Painful Tribulations of the HalfDemon
by BeTrueToThyself
Summary: Inuyasha and company are captured at the moment of their greatest weakness: the night of the new moon. Yet when morning comes, Inuyasha doesn't completely change back. What will they do?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is actually the first fanfic I ever wrote, even though it's not the first one I posted. So forgive me if it's not as good. Btw, there will be 14 chapters. Oh, and my whole goal with this story was to hurt Inuyasha in as many ways and as often as possible. I think I succeeded. But that also means that it got a bit redundant. And in the way of warning, there is almost no focus on any other character. But in spite of my own misgivings, I hope you enjoy it!

**Painful Tribulations of the Half-Demon**

**Chapter 1**

"Damn it, I hate the night of the New Moon."

"Oh, relax, Inuyasha," admonished Kagome, a pretty young woman in a modern Japanese school uniform. "It's only one night." As Inuyasha flicked his annoyed eyes toward her he could see the firelight shining orange across her face.

"Yeah, one night when I don't have my powers as a half-dog-demon; my sword can't even transform! Ugh, humans are so weak!" growled Inuyasha. He folded his arms in contempt, sending his black, hip-length, straight hair to rustling over his scarlet hitatare_. _ Made from the fur of the fire rat, it was his version of armor.

"Would you two stop it? You're always arguing about everything," interjected Miroku (the not-so-religious monk) while he adjusted in agitation the cloth and prayer beads encircling his right forearm, wrist, and hand.

"Yeah! And look, the food's ready!" cried the young fox demon Shippo as he reached for a fish-on-a-stick. His huge, fluffy, light brown tail fluttered in delight. "Mmm. De-li-cious!"

Sango, too, uprooted one of the speared fish where it was wedged in the ground to roast. The professional demon-slayer set down her weapon (a huge bone boomerang called the Hiraikotsu) to enjoy her meal. As Sango sat, cross-legged on the ground, and began eating, her loyal, sweet, two-tailed demon cat, neomata, jumped into her lap; silently, Kirara begged for a bite.

"Feh. Fine, then." Inuyasha grumbled, even as he sat cross-legged by the fire and snatched the largest fish.

* * *

Hidden in the bushes beyond the light of the group's campfire, several black-clad men squatted, listening. Their faces were smeared with mud to blend their light skin into the night. Whispering together, occasionally pointing and gesturing to the other group, they gathered together their supplies: strange balls made of herbs and explosives, chains, locks, coils of rope, and sundry tools. A wagon, too, sat drenched in darkness farther behind them.

Dirty eyebrows lifted in shock at "half-dog-demon." "Did you hear that?" one of the men muttered. "The one in red is a half-demon! How are we going to deal with that? And look – that cat and boy they have with them are definitely suspicious. Maybe they're demons!"

"Calm down. You're a professional! Of course we know how to take care of them. But they aren't worth the trouble. Our clients won't take demons. A half-demon, on the other hand, can be controlled. They're valuable work animals. That one is a human now, and vulnerable." The speaker grinned. "I think I've got just the thing for it."

The man who spoke was dignified in bearing, even crouched in shadow. The others clearly had respect for him, listening carefully to each word, though they kept an eye on their targets and surroundings. The first man who spoke, obviously the newest member, nodded, too eagerly, as soon as the other man began talking. He breathed more slowly and gently, his eyes no longer flicking from side to side in anxiety. The rest of them ignored their brother's nervousness, entirely impassive themselves.

Finally, they were ready.

In complete silence, three men each took an odd sphere. Two rushed around quietly, flanking the other troupe who sat laughing and bickering, unaware of their imminent fate. The three lifted arms in unison and threw their rough, tightly packed balls at the perimeter of the group. A blast of haze instantaneously formed, causing their targets to hack and cough desperately. One by one, their victims' eyes rolled backward and they fell, unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Slowly awakening to the awareness of a rattle of metal on wood and the jostling, thumping surface he lied on, Inuyasha cracked his eyes open. He moaned, pain stabbing into his head at each bump.

Gasps of delight and alleviated concern broke out at this. "Inuyasha! You're awake! We were worried about you."

"What?" he mumbled confusedly, opening his eyes more fully. Darkness still laid over the land, but it was lessened by several lanterns, each producing a small halo of light. They illuminated his surroundings, causing him to realize that he lied in the back of a wagon, surrounded by his friends and men swathed in black.

"We've been captured by these men," Kagome explained without prompting. She continued, "Shippo and Kirara were left behind, though. I'm worried about them."

"Our weapons are gone, including your sword, the Tetsusaiga," offered Sango.

Finally awake now, Inuyasha struggled to sit upright. He discovered the source of the rattle: chains bound his hands and feet together in front of him, one string between his wrists, another between his ankles, and a third connecting the others in the middle. Snapping his head up, he inspected the others' restraints. Sango's and Miroku's hands were bound behind their backs with chains, but Kagome's, oddly enough, were tied with rope.

"What is this? Who are these people?" Inuyasha demanded.

Miroku sighed, rolling his eyes. "I don't know. They won't tell us anything. I already tried."

The leader glanced back at this comment from his place in the driver's seat. Turning forward and appearing to consider something, after a moment he handed the reins to the man next to him. Twisting around again, he addressed his captives. "Silence!" Their heads snapped toward him. "You want to know what's going on? Very well… you've been taken by the most elite of merchants. We will soon arrive, and when we do, you will make us a great deal of money. But until then," and at this point he began talking to his men, "you four – make them silent. Their voices are grating on my ears."

An unnoticed chest pressed against the back of the driver's seat. One man opened it with a creak and extracted four rolls of fabric. He passed one length to each of the three men perched on the wagon's sides; the last roll he himself kept. The four advanced on their captives, cloth held out, and silenced them.

A further gesture from the captain told a crew-member to remove a long, inch-wide chain from the same chest. He did so, eyebrows lifted. Contemplating it for a moment, comprehension lit his face. He stood up and walked to Inuyasha, whose eyes opened wide. The man required assistance to subdue Inuyasha and his friends, who tried to stop him. Kagome and Miroku could sense its horrid, sordid aura. Inuyasha struggled mightily but was forced onto his side, alarmed eyes flickering, the only movement he could perform. Kneeling, the crew-member slipped the chain snugly around his neck, and locked it to the rest of its length. Anger ignited on Inuyasha's face as he understood: the man had fashioned a collar and a leash.

Held immobile, the company of friends could do little more than exchange looks as they continued traveling through the countryside. The hard wooden floor of the uncovered wagon scraped and bruised them. Rope and chains chafed skin, cloth cut into cheeks, and the constant jolting motion magnified smoke-induced headaches. Sleep was impossible.

But at last, they stopped. Forced at knife-point out of the wagon bed, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome wrestled their way over and down. Inuyasha worked his way to the side, slow and clumsy hobbled by loops of chain. Someone shoved the half-demon over the edge, jerking his head cruelly with the collar. Inuyasha grunted through the gag at impact with the ground. Kagome's eyes threatened tears, but she couldn't go to him with blade-wielding men between them. Miroku's and Sango's faces were etched with concern and fear.

"Get up, you filthy half-breed! Get up!" cried the man holding the leash. Impatient, he lifted Inuyasha up by his black hair, and pushed. Inuyasha stumbled, forced to take small, quick steps to catch his balance. His eyebrows shot downward angrily, and he glared at the man, jaw clenched tight.

Curious purchasers arrived to examine the newly procured slaves, as the line shuffled towards the torch-lit hillock. It was an aristocratic crowd – with soldiers of different liveries gathering around each lord – while all mingled around the base of the knoll. The captives were lined up in front of the throng and shown off before the crowd, as his or her desirable traits were described – muscles, literacy, fighting skills, et cetera. Then the bidding began.

"Now, listen up!" the captain announced. "We have to get this done before daybreak! The monk's starting bid will be Ұ75,000. This female warrior goes for Ұ100,000. The priestess – for Ұ55,000. And the half-demon goes for Ұ200,000."

The crowd loudly protested such steep prices, but was shouted down by the captain. "Hey! Either you want them or you don't! They're a prize catch. Worth every bit."

One lord stepped forward. "I'll take them all."

The crowd guffawed. The captain retorted, "Hear that, folks? Looks like this guy wants to take them from right under your noses!" He turned to the man, "What are you offering?"

The number uttered produced gasps among the people. "That's ridiculous! Who would offer that much on a first bid?" "Well, I sure can't match that." "Nobody can!" "What use has he for all of them?" "What impudence! I don't want to walk away empty-handed!"

The captain whistled to gain the crowd's attention. Silence swept over them. The captain's words rang out. "Going once, going twice…." No one responded. "Sold! We have a winner. And for such a generous price, we'll include the weapons our captives had with them. You have some time yet to take away your newly acquired property…so, enjoy!"

Inuyasha fumed silently. Slaves! Sold as **slaves! **Only on this one night could anything like this **ever** happen to him. Dammit! He hated his human form! He continued to seethe, glaring. As soon as dawn came – it would all be over. He had only to hold out until then.

The lord's soldiers replaced the "most elite of merchants" atop the hill. The men clad in black stole away into the night, save for their captain. He pulled the lord aside to speak privately for a moment and to be paid – in gold, of course. Two men returned from the blackness carrying the slaves' weaponry and handed them over. This task done, the three joined their comrades beyond the circle of light. The rest of the crowd grudgingly but quickly departed for their own destinations.

Once alone, the lord smiled a disturbing and altogether cruel grin. He motioned his soldier to remove the slaves' gags.

Instantly, Inuyasha began swearing and bellowing at him, while Sango, Kagome and Miroku shouted outraged questions. To gain control for his master one soldier seized Inuyasha's chain, and pulled backward and upward violently, choking him. He fell to his knees, clawing at the chain, his breath cut off.

"INUYASHA!" his friends shrieked in unison. Still bound, they surged toward the soldier. Sango was foot-swept and landed on her back with a thud. She cried out, her hands taking most of her weight. Miroku was punched in the stomach, and he doubled over, the breath knocked out of him.

"STOP IT! Don't hurt them!" Kagome screamed. The soldier behind her clouted the side of her head. She fell to her knees.

The lord watched this with calmness. "Are you quite done?" None of them could breathe an answer. "I'll take that as a yes. In that case, it's time for us to be off. Bring them along, men. Use whatever force you deem necessary." He started away, taking up one of the lamps on his way by. "Bring these, too… no sense in advertising our presence here. We can use the light to find our way home." After all, he was a practical man.

Miroku finally managed to take a breath. "Wait! Tell us what you're planning to do with us!"

The lord turned halfway back. Sango and Kagome looked up hopefully from where they lay. Inuyasha continued to thrash, brown eyes bulging, his face turning purple. His fingers were hooked over the chain, their tips changing colors also. The lord ignored him as he said, "Why, you're going to work at my castle. No more, no less." He turned forward and started walking, arrogantly holding his torch out for someone to take. A man scurried forward and seized it, lifting it high to illuminate the way through the darkness.

"Let the poor thing breathe," the lord added over his shoulder.

"Yes, my lord," replied the soldier.

Inuyasha's first gasp whistled. He collapsed to his side as he panted, clutching his throat. Kagome's sigh of relief ruffled her hair. His face faded to red, then to pink. The soldier allowed him to catch his breath a moment before yanking him up.

As they all staggered off amongst the soldiers, Inuyasha at last recovered enough to furiously ask, "Did that bastard just call me a 'thing?' "

After a brief consideration, Miroku said, "You know, he did. He must be prejudiced against half-demons." He continued to deliberate, "That other man knew you were a half-demon…. I wonder if they overheard our conversation right before they took us."

Sango said, "No wonder!"

"Humph. Like I don't get enough of that already. People running around screaming, 'Demon!'" He huffed disgustedly again.

"Oh, Inuyasha…." said Kagome softly.

He recoiled. "Hey! Don't look at me like that! I didn't ask for sympathy!"

She sighed.

They approached a caravan of waiting, mounted soldiers, a carriage and another wagon in their midst. The lord had already disappeared inside the former. They were forced unceremoniously into the latter, and journeyed the rest of the night to the lord's residence. Physically and emotionally exhausted, they managed to snatch a few hours' sleep this time, silently preparing themselves for the deliverance of the sun.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Look, Kirara – it's almost morning! The New Moon is almost over."

Kirara meowed, and turned her gaze to Shippo. The two of them sat on a rock outcropping just below the compound of the lord's mountaintop castle.

Waking some time after their friends had been kidnapped, they had found and followed the wheel marks from the wagon. They just caught the end of the exchange at the hill, and continued to pursue the group from a safe distance.

"When Inuyasha changes back," Shippo said, "I bet he'll tear right through those stupid chains."

Kirara nodded. "Meew."

"He's so strong, I'm sure it'd be easy. But how could those guys have known when he's in his human form?"

Kirara gave him blank eyes.

"Well, Inuyasha has lots of enemies – he's not the friendliest person. That's for sure." Shippo chuckled a bit. "But I can't think of anyone who'd want to capture him. They'd all just want to kill him." He rubbed his chin in thought. "Maybe they're not after him 'specially. Or maybe they don't know who they have?"

"Meow!"

"You're right, Kirara. That's not likely. But never mind. We can think about that later." He waved his hands in dismissal. "Our friends are in trouble! We have to help. That lord is just a human, not like all those terrible demons we fight." He shivered. "Too bad you couldn't fly us here, Kirara. Those tracks were really hard to find! We had to walk."

Kirara winced, and licked a paw.

"We're here now, though – let's go help them! Wait, look! There they are!"

* * *

Roughly kicked awake, the band was forced once more out of a wagon bed. Looking around, they saw that night was brightening toward dawn. They'd traveled through a labyrinth of plastered walls and sharp corners throughout the castle before reaching these open grounds. Several buildings lay around them – the central keep and lord's house, servant's quarters, and guard stations. Soldiers were scattering. Four stayed standing by each of the new slaves. The lord himself lingered before them, flanked by two samurai on each side.

"I suppose you would like an introduction," he said without preamble. "My name is Atsuo, and I am the lord of this region. You are now my property. All your weapons have been confiscated, and it is futile to attempt escape." He spoke matter-of-factly, hands clasped loosely behind his back. "However, breakfast will soon be served, and I will allow you a single day to adjust to your new situation. You should be glad – that's more generous treatment than most other masters would give you. You three," he gestured to Kagome, Miroku, and Sango, "will join the others in the slave quarters. It," he pointed to Inuyasha, "can stay outside. Stake its collar to the ground."

"WHAT!" shrieked Inuyasha, lunging for Atsuo's neck. Growling ferociously, he struggled against the chain held by a samurai, who was dragged a meter or two before he could plant his feet.

"See?" the lord said to the air. "Half-demons are truly animals. This is our proof." Atsuo's mood suddenly changed. "That's enough! Take care of these troublesome slaves." He turned and strode confidently away.

The light of dawn had slowly grown stronger throughout this exchange. Impending sunrise colored the landscape. Suddenly, the sunlight struck Atsuo's withdrawing back, and Inuyasha grinned, triumphant. The night of the New Moon had ended. He was changing back to half-demon form at last, and he would waste this arrogant lord.

But it didn't happen as expected.

His shriek ripped through the air. Kagome, Sango, and Miroku stood in horror, motionless. Atsuo turned back quickly. An expectant grin already sat on his face.

Inuyasha screamed again, shock in his eyes. The chain around his neck glowed, startling the soldier into dropping it. Inuyasha cried out once more.

His human ears receded slowly, the skin smoothing over. He doubled over. He clamped his hands over his pointed, triangular, dog ears, moaning, as they formed atop his head. (They were black, not white as they should have been.) His feet cramped up, claws growing on his toes. He collapsed to his knees, the system of manacles jerking his hands down. He threw his head back and shrieked in anguish. His canines lengthened to form short fangs. The color of his hair flickered, white, then black, over and over. His irises bled from black to gold, swiftly sliding through shades, back and forth. Once, the sclera of his eyes blazed scarlet.

He knelt, lit by fresh daylight, as his body struggled with itself. His back arched, muscles going rigid. His hands contorted painfully. The chain kept glowing, getting brighter and brighter until it rivaled the rising sun, though it lay cool against his skin. It undulated, whipping about, forcing everyone to back away. He dimly perceived that many people now stood watching all over the courtyard. Sparks and miniature lightning bolts crackled over the metal leash. Light seemed to gather around the spectacle from all the corners of the yard, leaving it in darkness, except for Inuyasha. He gasped for breath, curling into a ball while still on his knees. He clutched his stomach, eyes squeezed tightly shut with the pain. His hair color kept flickering, more slowly now, slower, stopped. Life in the chain died gradually.

His forehead to the ground as if in prayer, Inuyasha's muscles relaxed little by little. His body was in between states – part human, part half-demon. He now had yellow-brown eyes, small fangs, clawed toes, normal fingers, dark gray hair and gray dog ears. The pain lessened from a sharp agony to a persisting, bone-deep ache.

Atsuo's vicious laughter finally reached him through the haze of pain. He looked up, his right eye suddenly yellow, his left deep brown. The colors melded again as Lord Atsuo got himself under control. Inuyasha could see his friends struggling against samurai, blood oozing from minor wounds. They were yelling at Atsuo, telling him to stop it, to let Inuyasha go, and how could he be laughing?

"It's quite easy," he replied, stifling a chuckle. "You thought you would escape when your mongrel changed back. Not so. The looks on your faces!" He fell into chortles. "Ah, yet now they look outraged." He shrugged indifferently. "But I shall not tell you how I managed such a thing. I will enjoy your torment of the unknown." Atsuo sighed blissfully.

"But enough of that. Disperse!" And he threw his arms out for emphasis. He added, "Remember to stake that mutt near the slave quarters. I doubt it will give you much resistance this time." Lord Atsuo laughed merrily again as he left.

"Inuyasha! Are you okay?" cried Kagome as they were all led away. He groaned in response, eyes closed, even as a different, bolder soldier hoisted him up. The man coiled the chain around his hand, disgustedly giving Inuyasha support when it became apparent that he couldn't walk on his own.

Kagome, alarmed as he swayed, yelled, "Inuyasha! Say something!"

He groaned once more, his eyes opening briefly and seeking her gaze. When he found it, he tried to smile reassuringly before allowing them to slide closed again.

Miroku hissed at his condition. "This is bad. He can hardly stand. And he tried to smile! You know it's bad when he does that." He smirked, trying to lighten the mood, even though they were all being roughly shoved through a doorway now.

Cells lined a short hallway, about four on each side. A large, common area was visible beyond. Triple-level bunk beds filled it, distressed occupants sitting up and looking around. They were too fearful to speak or even murmur. After Sango, Miroku and Kagome were pushed into separate cells along the right-hand side and briskly untied, the guards herded the other slaves out another door opposite the one they'd entered through. The smell of food wafted in prior to the slam of the prison door.

Rubbing her wrists, Kagome looked around. Three of the walls of the cell were made of vertical and horizontal bars welded together. She could see through Sango's cell to Miroku's, and through his to the common sleeping area. The fourth wall they all shared was a plastered beige. She looked out its moderately substantial window, which was thoroughly crisscrossed by more bars. Excitedly, she called out, "Look! Inuyasha's next to this wall!" Miroku and Sango rushed to their windows. Together, they cried, "Inuyasha!"

He was lying on his back, seemingly asleep. His shackles were removed, the single fetter around his neck trailing away to a short post. The rod had an umbrella-like rusted cap. The chain now had an attached mechanism that locked it about the post and required a key.

His dark gray dog ears twitched, then turned toward their voices. His yellow-brown eyes gradually opened. He blinked gray hair from an eyelash. Hoarsely, antagonistically, he answered, "Yeah?"

A synchronized sigh issued forth. Their shoulders relaxed, and they breathed more deeply.

"Inuyasha, how do you feel?" Miroku asked.

"Like garbage. What about you guys?" Inuyasha closed his eyes again.

"Eh, we're a bit bruised. It's you we're worried about."

"Mmm. You'll do what you want, I guess."

"Inuyasha!" said Kagome, exasperated.

He cracked one ochre eye. "What?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

He smiled slightly, and closed the eye.

"Well, now what do we do?" Sango recounted, ticking off on her fingers, "We're really in a bind. We've been sold as slaves, locked up, and Inuyasha... I hardly even know. Plus, we have no idea what happened to Kirara and Shippo. And our weapons are missing."

After a short silence, Miroku's eyes widened suddenly, and he muttered, "Uh-oh." Then, louder to everyone else, "The Tetsusaiga's not here! He cried to Inuyasha, "The Tetsusaiga can't suppress your demon blood when it's not with you. You might transform!"

Kagome gasped, "I saw your eyes back there – they were red for a moment!" She warned, "You need to be really careful. We have no idea how that… that chain will react if you transform."

Inuyasha's eyelids swept open, skin tightening in subtle anxiety. "Wonderful," he said sarcastically, indulging in a bit of self-pity. "That's just great. As if we need **that** – me rampaging through here, maybe even coming after you guys."

Silence held sway as they all considered those ramifications. "You know, though," Miroku added slowly, thoughtfully, "I don't think they know about my Wind Tunnel. They've taken precautions with you, Inuyasha, but not with me."

"Good," Inuyasha said, "because I don't plan on staying here long. We need to go after Naraku." He attempted to sit up, gasped as his vision swirled and his head pounded, and then slumped back to the dirt. "… so dizzy," he mumbled to himself, his eyes shut. "This thing sure packs a punch." He raised a hand to tug on his leash.

Kagome stretched an arm through the bars. "Inuyasha! Are you okay?"

He turned toward her, his eyes spinning through colors again, unsynchronized with each other. He shut them swiftly, clamping both hands over them.

"Inuyasha!" they cried.

From behind them a male voice spoke, "Is that all you ever say? 'Inuyasha?'"

They whirled around to face a soldier who entered the hallway carrying trays of food. "You should learn some new words. Enlarge your vocabulary," he drawled as he slid one tray through the shafts and set it on the floor of Kagome's cell. "And don't worry, that guy out there," he pointed with his chin, "will get some of this, too. Half-demon or not, he needs to eat. At least, I assume he does." He wandered off with a dense, pondering look on his face.

They looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Well, at least someone around here isn't totally evil. He brought food!" said Miroku.

As he dived in, Kagome returned to the window. "Inuyasha? Are you doing okay out there? And don't lie to me this time."

"I didn't lie! Stop asking!" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Worry about yourself!" He wished he could sit up. Lying stretched out here was terrible; he was so weak and all because of a stupid metal chain! There were people in the courtyard staring at him, too, and he couldn't do a thing about it. He gritted his teeth. He didn't even have the energy to prop himself against the wall! What in the world was this thing? Being in human form, though difficult to admit, was better than **this. **And if he did try, he'd probably do something even more embarrassing – like throwing up. Since when did a half-demon throw up? They don't get sick! It was better to stay where he was. Besides, he didn't want Kagome to worry. If he threw up, she'd really be concerned. And then he'd never hear the end of it. Speaking of which…

She scolded, "Inuyasha!" She gripped the bars in the window. "You **are** lying – and you know precisely what I mean. Answer me!"

He snorted. "Or what?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Like you'd use the enchanted necklace now. Ha! I dare you to say 'sit!' Just get out of here. Go on!" He waved at her when her face set in stubborn lines. "Go on and eat, Kagome. I heard someone say he'd bring some for me." He added in a singsong when she didn't move, "Miroku will steal it from you."

"Hey! I would not!" Miroku called.

"Well, okay… but only if you're sure," Kagome said slowly.

"Yeah, I'll be here," Inuyasha grunted.

"Come on, Kagome, he'll be fine. Besides, there's nothing you can really do for him right now," said Sango logically.

"Yeah, I guess so." And she turned away.

Mmm. Time for peace and a little rest, now. He'd indulge in a nap. That's all. Just a nap. Then he could get up and eat. Time enough for that later. He wasn't that hungry, anyway… . He was too sleepy. And escape takes energy. Better stock up while he could.

And Inuyasha drifted into slumber.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Inuyasha is **still** asleep!" cried Sango as the sun completed its arc through the sky. Her face took on an orange hue when she popped her head up by the window.

"Yeah," said Miroku as he glanced out his own barred window. "This has been terribly hard on him." He shook his head. "I can't believe how horrible these people are!"

"Yeah! How could anyone be so cruel?" exclaimed Kagome. "They're treating him like he's an animal!"

They had spent the entire day in their cells. (None of the other slaves had returned yet.) Lunch had come and gone, and their simple dinner was approaching its end.

Full and sated, Miroku finished his meal and leaned comfortably back against the plastered wall. Pensively, Miroku posed a question to his companions, "Where do you think that chain came from, anyway?" He licked his fingers clean.

Sango swallowed and said, "Well, it was the traders who had it, remember? They must've gotten it from a very powerful monk or priestess. Who else could make that?" She thought a moment, searching through archives of memories. "I've never heard of anything like it, and as a demon-slayer, I should have."

Said Kagome, "Really? Hmm. I wonder if Inuyasha has. He **is** the half-demon." She took a thoughtful bite of her rice cake.

"I doubt it. He looked really surprised," ventured Miroku.

"Definitely," agreed Sango. "But why buy a slave, and then do that? He can't even walk, – you saw him – much less work!" She mused absentmindedly, "Is it malfunctioning?"

"I don't know… maybe," replied Miroku. "But more importantly, how are we going to get it off him? Constant half-transformations like this can't be healthy."

"I agree," said Kagome firmly. "We need to form an escape plan. I'm worried about him…. And I hope Shippo and Kirara are okay."

Sango reassured, "I'm sure they're all right. That smoke was probably meant for us humans, not demons. I bet they're trying to find us right now!"

"Yeah, now would be a good time for that," replied Miroku. He scooted toward Sango's cell, and lounged in the corner closest to her. He eyed her luscious body and sighed. He caught a disapproving, knowing glance from Kagome and grinned. Then he sighed again. It was really too bad Sango sat so far away. His hand itched to cup her curves.

Sounds of swishing cloth and munching came through their windows. Miroku called, "It sounds like Sleeping Beauty is finally awake!"

"Shut up," Inuyasha answered, the words distorted and muffled.

Through their windows, they could see him lying on his stomach, gobbling down the food arrayed before him. He was so hungry now he didn't care that the effort made his head spin. Kagome chastised, "Don't choke! You should slow down."

He grunted. "Like I'd die from choking. I'm not weak like you humans." He paused and looked down at himself. "Well, right now… since it's almost like I'm a quarter-demon… who knows?" he asked indifferently. He flipped his deep gray hair away disgustedly, and then shoveled more food in his mouth.

"I'm glad you have such an appetite, Inuyasha. The fact that you slept through lunch really worried me. Since when is Inuyasha nothungry?" Kagome teased.

"Ha, ha," he mumbled. Having wolfed down the food in record time, he tried to get up. His arms began to quiver, however, and his head pounded. He sunk his claws into the soil, and managed to swing a knee forward to rest his weight on. It's pathetic how that stupid chain laid him up! He **would** do this! He panted and waited briefly for the nausea to subside. So much for the food if he threw up, huh? Twisting his body to the right, he flung himself down and slumped against the wall. He pulled his legs in one by one. At last, he sat cross-legged. He shook his head. Pathetic.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You get too worked up," he murmured to their vociferous apprehension. He rested his head against the wall and closed his eyes. His sight was all blurry and whirling, anyway. He swallowed, trying to keep the food from coming up.

Kagome exclaimed, "Yeah, right, Inuyasha! You're the one who's always trying to bluff! Just like when you say a wound through the gut doesn't hurt!" She huffed. "You're lying! You always do this!"

"Hey! I do not bluff!" he said, eyebrows lowering in slight hurt.

"Sorry, Inuyasha, but Miroku and I have to back Kagome on this one," added Sango. Miroku nodded as she spoke.

"Hey! That's not – " Inuyasha interrupted his own protest, perking up his dark gray ears. He sat intently, listening. They all fell silent, straining to hear over the noise of an approaching, laughing crowd of soldiers. Were those padding footsteps? The sound was so elusive and quiet; it was difficult to be certain. Then from the right-hand corner of the building a nearly imperceptible shadow stretched out through the dusk, preceding none other than:

"Shippo! Kirara!" cried Sango. "Hurry, climb in here before those soldiers see you!"

Quickly, they ran and jumped onto the protruding windowsill. Kirara swiftly stepped through the metal rods, but Shippo didn't fit. Thinking fast, he took his special, transfiguring leaf from within his shirt, placed it against his forehead and said, "Transform!" There was a burst of smoke, and then a tiny yellow songbird stood in his place. (Kirara sprang onto Sango's shoulder, farther from temptation.) He went through, and then reverted back to a young boy with the feet and tail of a fox.

* * *

A boisterous, drunken group of guards entered the courtyard and spotted a red form next to the slave house. It was the slothful mongrel their lord had purchased. Their noble lord had performed a great and glorious service by shackling that half-demon monster. The common people were saved from its innate cruelty, a trait for which it deserved punishment. They headed toward the figure.

As they moved closer, one soldier snatched a bucket from a passing servant, sloshing water onto his hand. "That's mine, thank you," he said roughly, sarcastically, shoving the hapless man. He reached the dog first, and threw the water into its face. He laughed hysterically when it sputtered and bared its teeth.

Whooping and hollering, his friends arrived. "Way to go!" they shouted. Cheering, one grabbed its chain and yanked. He dragged it along a short way on its back, while it scrabbled and tried to gain slack. He laughed until tears ran down his cheeks. He let go of the chain, incapable of holding on through the laughter. It kicked at the other guards' approaching legs, scratching one with its repulsive clawed toes. "How dare you!" they shrieked. The scratched one freaked, yelling, "It infected me! It infected me!"

The man angrily pulled it to its knees by the chain. Its hair flickered white briefly, startling them. Their fear egged them on. One soldier punched it across the face, and it sagged in the chain's grip. The man laughed as he jiggled it around like a marionette. Its head flopped backward. Its open eyes stared at the sky and flowed through shades. It snarled weakly, trying to slash them with nonexistent fore-claws. They all sniggered at its stupidity.

Finally, the first soldier said, "Come on, men, this dirty cur isn't worth any more of our time." Still hooting derisively, they left. Released, it collapsed to the ground. Someone got in one last hard kick to the midsection; the creature grunted and curled up. As they retreated they shouted approval of the mangy half-breed's treatment. The mere fact of its sacrilegious, grotesque birth justified it!

* * *

As all his friends shouted from within, Inuyasha gazed dazedly off into the distance. He let his mind drift and his eyes close, trying to remove himself from the deep, unrelenting ache in both heart and body. Old, painful memories of his childhood resurfaced and tore at his heart, burning bright with anguish. He brushed them away angrily.

That beating had hurt, true, but this collar sapped his strength. He was injured mostly because he couldn't fight back. Still, it's not as if stuff like this hadn't happened before. But this stupid thing drained and sickened him terribly. He thought in alarm that its effects might have increased since that morning. He felt absolutely awful….

… His friends were yelling his name and screaming insults at the guards. Several guards turned around and looked ready to return. Their faces contorted with anger. Sango quickly realized that they were in danger. She shouted to shut up, right now, or they'll attack us, too. Kagome kept on screaming. Sango had to stretch through the bars, seize her shirtsleeve, and drag her close. She hissed in Kagome's face, "Shut up or they'll come back and beat him up again. 'Kay?"

Kagome nodded vigorously, tears coursing down her face. "Yes. You're right. Of course you're right. It's just…." She glanced toward the window and sniffled.

Sango said gently, "I know. Just wait until they're gone."

The soldiers disappeared swiftly, and soon they all pressed against the window posts again. Inuyasha still lied on his right side where he'd been dropped, facing the yard. His left arm held his stomach, the right flung out into space. Bruises were blooming around his neck and his face from the day's abuse. His soiled, tangled, gray hair fanned out behind him. Dirt encrusted his back. Blood trickled slowly down his chin. His eyes were closed.

"Inuyasha!" screamed Kagome without constraint. "INUYASHA!"

His eyelids quivered and then slowly opened. His irises had returned to ochre, but he lied staring with unfocused eyes for far too long.

"INUYASHA!" yelled Shippo. He was frightened by this turn of events. Somehow, Inuyasha hadn't really returned to half-demon, and now he let a bunch of humans beat him up? Quickly, he transformed himself and went through the bars.

"Be careful, Shippo! You might be seen!" Miroku called in a stage whisper.

Shippo ignored him. "Inuyasha! **Inuyasha!** Are you okay?" Shippo crouched in front of him, between his gaze and the far distance. Inuyasha blinked, and then seemed to return to himself.

He whispered, "Shippo? Kagome?" He exhaled gently, and then let his eyes slip shut. "Hey."

Kagome burst into relieved tears. Shippo cried happily, "Inuyasha! You're okay!" And he threw himself on his shoulder, clutching the red robe tightly. Sango's and Miroku's shoulders both eased, and they whispered, "Inuyasha."

Inuyasha at last stirred, rolling gently onto his back to better look at them. Shippo let go of his robe. "I'll be okay. Don't worry." He exhaled shakily and demanded, "Don't you have an escape plan, yet? What have you guys been doing? Go on."

"Oh, Inuyasha," breathed Kagome through her tears.

"Don't cry, Kagome." He waved his hand. "Go on. Get cracking."

"Are you sure, Inuyasha? Are you really okay?" asked Miroku.

"Of course. As if this," he gestured, "was even worth noticing."

Sango asked, "And you just want us to work on a plan now? Just like that?"

"Yeah. Hello! Didn't you hear me?" he said as if they were dolts. "Though you might want to be quieter about it," he added.

Miroku muttered slowly, turning away, "Well, okay. I guess. Um… Well… they said they'd let us out of here tomorrow." He paused, thinking. "We should either leave tonight, and somehow get out of these cells, or wait until tomorrow night when we're over there." He pointed over his shoulder with a thumb to the nearby bunk beds. "Either way, we should probably get him out of that chain as soon as possible."

Kagome whispered, "Definitely!" She wiped the tears off her face. "And I think I have an idea for the locks. We could pick them! I've never tried it, but basically, you stick a paperclip into the lock, wiggle it around and ta-da! It opens."

Shippo said, "Whoa, cool! I want to try! But, uh, what's a paperclip?" He clambered back through the window as he spoke.

Kagome was flustered. "Shippo, keep it down!" she hissed. But then she considered his question. "A paperclip is… um… a thin, poky piece of metal that holds parchment together. We'd need to find something like that."

Sango said in a low voice, "There's more to consider. They'll most likely expect us to try tonight. Slaves probably try to break out right away. Tomorrow night, there's a possibility that they won't expect it. And I hate to leave the other slaves here, though we may have to. Oh, and tomorrow, we could ask if they know a way out! Kirara can't fly us all out the way she flew Shippo in. I'm sure the layout of this place is like a maze. We need more information."

"You have a point," replied Kagome softly, "but what about Inuyasha? The chain seems to really hurt him, and the soldiers might come again. We can't afford to stay any longer than we have to."

Miroku said in an undertone, "I agree. I'd rather escape now. We can always try again later. Although it will probably be harder then if we fail now."

Kirara meowed softly and Shippo agreed, "Okay! So what do we do?"

"Well," offered Kagome, "we should probably wait until full dark, at least. It would be better after everyone is asleep, especially the other slaves there. But what are we going to do about them? We can't just leave them here!"

Sango whispered, "I think, if we are going to try to rescue them, we should come back later. Inuyasha can't fight, and he's the best we've got. Our first priority must be us. Besides, to get this many people out would definitely mean a battle. We don't have our weapons!"

"Yes, we need to find those somehow," agreed Miroku. "Maybe it **would** be better to wait until tomorrow night."

Kagome whispered emphatically, "No way! Inuyasha won't last that long."

Outside, a dark grey ear flicked in irritation.

Kagome continued, "Okay. That's all well and good, but we need to hammer out the details."

"Yes," said Sango slowly. "Shippo, would you be willing to look around for us? We need to get our weaponry and find a way out of here. And nobody here knows about you, so it'd be less risky if you go. Kirara can come with you, too, right, Kirara?"

Kirara nodded, saying, "Meew!" Shippo, though, looked wary and frightened.

"You can do it, Shippo!" Miroku encouraged quietly.

"Yeah, Shippo!" said Kagome in a low voice.

Shippo paused and then nodded, exlaiming softly, "Right!" He clenched his trembling fist. "I can do this!"

Miroku agreed in an undertone, "Yeah! And while you're scouting, we can work on these locks. We'll just make it look like we're bolted in. You can do this, Shippo!"

"Okay. Come on, Kirara! Let's go!" And they went back out through Sango's window.

On the way past Inuyasha, Shippo looked up into his face. Inuyasha had somehow, unbelievably, managed to sit up again. His head was hanging, and his straight, dusty hair formed a curtain around him. "Are you sure you're okay?" Shippo asked worriedly. "You look like you're about to puke."

"Shut up," Inuyasha grunted.

Shippo lifted his hands in a defeated, all-right-then gesture. Inuyasha might talk big, but he must actually be feeling pretty bad.

Inside, the three friends pondered on what they could use to pick a lock. Quiet reigned supreme until Kagome gasped quietly, "Miroku, your earrings!"

Sango turned to look; Miroku lifted a self-conscious hand upward. He asked in disbelief, "These? Would they work?"

A drop of doubt fell into the pool of Kagome's face. "Well, I think so. It's worth a shot. Pass it here."

After Sango played courier, Kagome took the small hoop earring with a straight stud. She reached awkwardly around the bars to the built-in lock. The side of her face pressed against the cage as she blindly groped around with the earring. Some time passed before Miroku removed his other earring and tried his own lock.

"So basically," he asked doubtfully, "you just wiggle it around and hope it works like a key?"

"More or less," she strained.

Sango sighed. There was nothing for her to do! She walked to her window where deep twilight had settled in over the landscape. A few lonely torches wavered in a zephyr. She asked softly, "How are you doing, Inuyasha?"

He didn't respond. He didn't even twitch. Alarm grew until she saw the faint movement of his breathing. "Inuyasha? Come on, say something."

"Go away," he grumbled hoarsely. "Can't a guy get a little peace around here?"

She exhaled shakily. "Jeez, don't scare me like that."

"Feh. Leave me alone."

"Come on, Inuyasha, be honest. How are you feeling?"

"UGH!" The half-demon fought his voice down to a lower level. "Would you people stop asking me that already? For the last time, I'm fine!" He clenched both fists. His face was still hidden by a tumble of hair. Why couldn't they just leave him be? The pain and nausea was easier to bear alone…. Nightfall sure made the temperature drop. He shivered.

Sango asked, "Are you cold? It's still warm out."

He lied, "No, it was a shiver of disgust. Now _leave me alone_."

She sighed. "Fine."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Shippo slunk along the building's sides in the deepest shadows of the night. Kirara padded silently in his wake. A few lone guards patrolled the surrounding area, requiring them to be extremely cautious. They gently shuffled past Inuyasha, who'd toppled over and dozed awkwardly with his legs still half crossed. He shivered and his ears twitched a little in his sleep. Agilely, they hopped onto the window's ledge and flowed like liquid through its shafts. Sango, Miroku and Kagome rose without sound at their entrance, and gestured for Shippo to speak, but quietly.

He told them dejectedly that he'd looked everywhere, but he couldn't find the weapons. Their faces tightened briefly, but they reassured him that it would be okay. Did he find the way out?

"Yeah, I did!" Shippo whispered excitedly. He proceeded to draw what he knew on the dirt floor of Sango's cell. Kagome and Miroku strained unsuccessfully to make it out in the gloom, and then gave up. Sango studied it intently, attempting to memorize the path he sketched.

"Good job, Shippo!" Miroku said in an undertone. "We'll just have to find our weapons on the way."

Sango asked, "Shippo? Could you pick the lock on Inuyasha's chain?" She held out one of Miroku's earrings. "Inuyasha's too out of it to do it himself. He tries to hide it, but we can all tell. Try to get him to lie between you and the guards, so you won't be seen, okay? You're small enough for that to work. You've done a great job already, Shippo; we just need a little more of your help."

He nodded, gathering courage. He'd been looking forward to a break, but they needed him. He could do this. "Okay. I've just got to keep it together."

"That's right, Shippo. We know you'll do wonderfully," Kagome encouraged. Miroku nodded his agreement. Kirara meowed softly and butted the top of her head gently against him.

Shippo nodded once more, and slipped back through the window poles. He set his hand on Inuyasha's shoulder, which startled him with its heat. "Wake up, Inuyasha," he whispered anxiously. Inuyasha quivered, and then stirred from slumber. His eyes were bloodshot, his lip swollen. Black bruises on his neck mirrored the dark circles under his eyes. Shippo said to him, "Jeez, Inuyasha, you look awful."

Hoarse, Inuyasha muttered sarcastically, "Thanks."

"Sorry. But I'm going to try to get this off." Shippo pointed to the fetter. "Sango said I should hide behind you. Can you move to make space by the wall?"

Inuyasha grumbled, "Yeah, yeah, okay…." He slowly untangled his legs, moving stiffly. Weakly, he rolled onto his stomach and then onto his left side. He feebly tugged the metal leash out from beneath his body. "There you go."

Shippo quickly clambered over him. He positioned the earring into the lock and wiggled it around like Kagome had said. He kept trying and trying, but nothing happened. His face twisted in frustration.

"Isn't it working?" Inuyasha slurred tiredly, eyes closed.

Shippo glanced up, frightened by this change in his friend. "No. Not yet." He kept struggling with it. Occasionally, Inuyasha would shiver with cold, making it difficult to pick. This also distracted him with further trepidation: "Inuyasha? Do you have a fever? Are you okay?"

"Just get it off me."

"I'm trying! Your shivering makes it harder."

Inuyasha merely hummed in acknowledgement.

Eventually, Shippo gave up and returned through Kagome's window. He looked up at her anxiously and whispered, "I couldn't do it! I'm sorry!" He burst into tears. "And Inuyasha's gotten worse! He's burning up!"

She tensed and breathed, "No." She quickly gathered up her composure, and grabbed the ratty blanket that was the only semblance of a bed. "All right. Take this out to him. Hopefully, it will fit through the bars. And then… try the other lock on the post. Okay? Please, Shippo?" She wiped her thumbs across his wet cheeks. "Come on, it'll be okay." Tears of her own threatened to spill, though, betraying her lack of confidence.

Shippo assented and stopped crying. He wiped his nose on his sleeve, and then transformed to go out the window. He paused just inside to let a sentry go by, and then popped through. He changed back, still on the ledge, and grabbed the blanket Kagome stuck out. He held it tightly and jumped backward off the ledge, using his own weight and gravity to pull it through. Dragging it over, he said, "Here, Inuyasha." He spread the blanket out. Inuyasha sighed with pleasure as its warmth settled over him.

"Come on," Shippo whispered. "I'm going to try the other lock. Please, move next to the post?"

Inuyasha had nearly fallen asleep already. "What? Oh." His eyes fluttered closed, then snapped open. "What! You're kidding, right?" To him, the post seemed kilometers away.

"We can't let anyone see us!" Shippo said quietly. He thought desperately that maybe if he insulted Inuyasha, his anger and pride would force him to move. "Come on, Inuyasha, I thought you were strong. But you're a weakling! You're just a half-demon! Not a full demon like me!" He danced, terrified, out of arm's length. Normally, he'd be seriously pummeled for saying something like that.

Inuyasha snarled and muttered, "You'll regret that later." He propped himself on his left elbow; the blanket slid down. He forced his muscles to move his pain-racked, fever-ridden body. He shivered in the night air as he left the blanket behind, too weak to bother grabbing it. He crawled jerkily over to the post, and then let his muscles go slack. He collapsed to his left side, not caring that he landed on bruises and the chain. It was foreign for him to have bruises from so little force. He panted through his open mouth, eyes closed.

Shippo snatched the blanket, struggling to drag its large mass. He spread it out again and gazed fretfully into Inuyasha's face. Then he hurriedly set to work on the lock. This one was a lot simpler than the other one. Sudden hope flared inside him. Several minutes passed by as he worked on it, keeping one anxious eye out for sentinels. Abruptly, it opened. "Yes!" he said, a little too loudly. He snapped his head up, but no one was near.

Inuyasha opened one bloodshot, ochre eye. "You get it?"

"Yeah!"

"Good," he breathed. "Let's get out of here."

Shippo ran to the window and told them the news. Excited, they jumped up. They glanced around to make certain that everyone else was asleep. Sure enough, snores filled the air. They crept out of their cells and cautiously edged out the unlocked outer door. A twinge of alarm at the lack of a lock was quickly stifled.

"Ah, fresh air and freedom," whispered Sango.

Quickly, they turned left again around the building and rushed to Inuyasha and Shippo, who was removing the chain from the post. Inuyasha turned his head and torso to his right and looked up at them. They finally got a good look at him: Kagome gasped and ran to his side; Sango and Miroku both stopped walking, their faces blanching. Kirara stopped with them a moment, and then bounded over to jump on him. She curled up on his hip, purring in concern.

Inuyasha smirked. "That bad, huh?" His voice was still hoarse, his words a little slurred. Kirara felt warm… .

"Oh, Inuyasha!" cried Kagome. She threw herself across his chest and clutched his robes through the tattered blanket. "You're so badly hurt! I'll never forgive myself!"

"For what? You didn't do anything!" Inuyasha said, bewildered.

Kagome was bawling too hard to answer him. Shippo cried in sympathy. "Come on, you guys," Inuyasha murmured uncomfortably. "We have to get out of here. We're in danger just standing around."

"He's right," Sango agreed gently. "Can you walk, Inuyasha?" He raised an eyebrow. "Right. Kirara, will you carry him, please?"

Swiftly, Kirara leapt off him and transformed from an adorable kitten to a huge, saber-toothed carnivore with a fire-aura licking at her ankles and the tips of her two tails. "Come on, Inuyasha," whispered Miroku as he took his right arm.

Sango was reaching for his other arm when a voice yelled, "STOP! Hurry, men, they're escaping! Make sure you get all of them!" An alerted mass of soldiers appeared from out of the shadows and advanced on them, brandishing weapons and shouting. More torches were lit and light flooded the area, blinding eyes accustomed to the dark.

"NO!" Kagome screamed. She planted herself several meters in front of Inuyasha's feet, her body tensed and ready. It was her turn to protect him. He had always saved her, but now he was the one who needed saving. Sango and Miroku gently lowered him back to the ground and took up positions next to her. Kirara joined them and roared at the phalanx of samurai, causing them to hesitate. Shippo, too, stood in front of him prepared to fight.

"No!" cried Inuyasha, his hand outstretched toward Kagome. She glanced back at him, her face furious. She yelled, "You're sick, Inuyasha!" She faced the soldiers once more.

His hand fell, defeated in the face of truth. He let himself curl up on the ground. He couldn't do anything else! It went against everything in him to let Kagome put herself in such danger. Yet, there was absolutely no way he could help…. He yelled, "Kirara! Protect Kagome!"

Kirara snarled and nodded in response, still facing the guards. Suddenly, the two groups clashed. Kirara slashed and bit them, but withheld killing blows. Sango and Miroku whirled, evading men's cuts and snatching their weapons. Kagome held back, waiting for her chance to snatch a weapon. Shippo withdrew a small object from his shirt and yelled, "SMASHING TOP!" as he summoned his fox demon magic. His top spun to an illusory, immense size, creating a whirlwind. The soldiers shrieked. Kagome grabbed a downed man's bow and arrows, but she didn't really want to kill men who were only following orders. _Besides_, she thought, _they're not trying to kill us_.

Suddenly, Inuyasha cried out behind them, but his scream cut short like a lopped-off limb. Kagome turned to him. "Inuyasha! NO!" An anonymous samurai stood, one foot smashed on the back of Inuyasha's neck, viciously jerking his head back and choking already-bruised flesh with the chain. A spear had pierced through Inuyasha's left, bare foot, pinning it to the ground. Blood welled profusely out of the wound.

Kagome nocked an arrow quickly, but the others couldn't spare a glance. Nevertheless, Miroku, Shippo, and Sango were sufficiently distracted to be disarmed and knocked to the ground. A forgotten soldier behind Kagome tackled her as she took careful aim. After a momentary struggle, all four were bound tightly.

Kirara roared and altered her attack toward Sango's, her closest friend's, assailants. Something flew toward her and smoke billowed as the object struck the ground. She inhaled it, and coughed roughly before collapsing. She quivered and changed back into a kitten. Shippo, too, hacked, coughed, and lost consciousness as he breathed the fumes.

Inuyasha writhed and struggled compulsively to breathe, even though his thrashing twisted the spear in his foot and made it cut deeper. His only thought was of Kagome. She was hurt, tied up, and he couldn't help her! Then the smoke hit him; the potent scent overwhelmed his keen nose instantly, and he passed out.

Kagome became hysterical, screaming and crying, fighting her captor's hold with superhuman strength. His chokehold quickly brought the darkness of unconscious sleep. Then the same fate befell the two still yelling.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Gradually, Shippo awoke to a wet, stroking sensation on his arm. A rough tongue licked him again. "Kirara! You're okay!" he exclaimed happily, but groggily. He petted her and she purred, rubbing fiercely against his hand.

"Shippo!" cried Miroku from the fox demon's right. "Look, he's awake!" Kagome joined Miroku at Shippo's feet. Sango sat on Shippo's left. The young demon blinked several times, clearing his vision to see their bruised faces circled above him. He sat up, shaking his head.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Another cell of some kind," Miroku replied.

Shippo glanced around somewhat, and noticed a tiny window. Opposite the door, it was situated at the top of the wall, apparently level with the ground. They were in a dimly illuminated basement – the floor and three walls of stone. The fourth wall consisted of a solid metal cell door. He noted that his friends' arms weren't bound, though their wrists had fresh marks. "Hey! Weren't we tied up?" He rubbed his hair in sleepy confusion.

"Yeah," said Sango, "but Kirara used her claws to free us." She picked up the cat and cuddled her. Kirara stroked her head against Sango's chin and purred louder. She added, "How are you feeling? You were asleep a good, long time. It's morning now."

"I'm okay," Shippo said as he rubbed his nose. "That stuff sure smelled terrible, though. Hey, that reminds me! Where's Inuyasha? Is he okay? With his sensitive nose…."

"He's over there. He hasn't woken up yet." Kagome pointed worriedly over Sango's shoulder.

Shippo looked to his left. Inuyasha laid shivering on the floor under a different, moth-eaten coverlet. He was on his left side, back to the wall, in the corner near the window. Home-made, bloody bandages encased his left foot. His chain was coiled near him. Shippo asked again, "Is he okay?"

"We're not sure," Kagome answered. She bit her lower lip and wrung her hands. "We weren't so worried when you were still sleeping, but now…. I don't know. After all," she reassured herself, "it's only natural he'd sleep longer, right? Being sick and injured and breathing that horrible smoke…. Even I thought those fumes smelled bad." She trailed off.

Miroku reassured, "He'll be fine, Kagome. He's strong."

"Yeah!" Shippo agreed.

Kirara meowed and jumped down from Sango's arms. She pushed her head against their legs repeatedly. "What are you doing, Kirara?" She meowed again, bounced into their laps, and then ran to the corner of the cell near the door. She kept doing this until they figured out that she wanted them to move. They did, crowding into the corner, wondering what she could be thinking. Quickly, she ran to the center of the moderately large cell and transformed into a sleek predator. She pushed Inuyasha away from the wall with her nose. He trembled harder and made a pained, disgusted sound as his foot was jarred. She curled herself around his body, offering him her warmth. His quivering slowed; his face smoothed, and he sighed gently.

Understanding lit the others' faces, and they spread out, though there wasn't much room now. Kagome reached out, and tucked the worn blanket more firmly around Inuyasha. Then she petted Kirara's head with gratitude, who purred. "Good," Kagome breathed, both to Kirara and in relief that Inuyasha was more comfortable.

Sango nodded, and then mused, "I wonder what time it is. I'm starving!"

"You're not the only one!" Miroku said.

"Me, too!" cried Shippo. "The last time I ate was lunch! Yesterday!"

"Hey, Shippo," Kagome asked, cocking her head "where were you all day yesterday? I thought you followed us through the night."

"Well, yeah, we did. But we couldn't fly in during the day. Duh! We'd be spotted! Even I know that."

"Right, that was smart," she replied, chagrined. "Well, now what do we do?" She threw her hands up. "So much for our escape. Although, I am surprised they put us all in the same cell."

Miroku sighed. "Yes…. We haven't accomplished much. Inuyasha's still collared and our weapons, particularly the Tetsusaiga, are still hidden somewhere. Shippo did find the way out, though." He gestured in acknowledgement. Shippo grinned proudly.

Suddenly, Inuyasha's voice asked hoarsely, "Already planning again, huh? Good. You guys don't miss a beat."

"Inuyasha!" they cried happily.

He grunted and yawned widely, wincing when his bruises ached. "You're warm, Kirara," he murmured. She licked his head and ears, mussing his hair. He flattened his ears tight to his head. "Hey!" She licked him again, undeterred. He sighed and relaxed them forward. Shippo pounced on him, hugging him tightly. "Inuyasha!"

"Shippo!" he scolded, but he looked away uncomfortably and tolerated the young fox demon's affection.

Kagome cried, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" She swiftly pulled him upright with a rattle of chain links and buried her head against his chest. Inuyasha grunted softly as his foot throbbed. Kagome began to weep. He blushed a brilliant red, patted her back awkwardly, and said, "Don't cry, Kagome. I'm okay. R-r-really." Just as he finished saying this, though, the cold snatched his body and shook it, sending yet more painful sparks through his wound. Immediately, Kagome stopped sobbing, and pulled back to look at him, still holding crimson fistfuls of his clothes. He tried to speak, but his teeth began chattering, and he couldn't finish. She gently laid him back down next to Kirara and covered him with the blanket. Kirara wormed her huge paw under his head for a pillow. Shippo jumped up again, snuggling down on Inuyasha's hip and leaning upon Kirara's side for a back rest.

"Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"DON'T ask me," Inuyasha interjected, his tolerance at an end, "if I'm okay. The answer is yes, I'M FINE."

Miroku lifted his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, jeez."

Breakfast was shortly served and promptly devoured. Kagome told them to save most of their water for Inuyasha, though. "His wound needs cleaning. And with his fever, he could easily get dehydrated."

Inuyasha's protest was cut off by the clank of soldiers' boots, gradually getting louder and louder, finally stopping before their cell door. A key grated, and the massive door squeaked slowly open, revealing a heavily armed squadron of men.

"Come on, you're coming with us. You will serve your new lord. Move it!"

The prisoners all stared, still as stone.

The man gestured, and soldiers flooded into the cell, grabbing slaves. They protested vehemently and struggled, but were manhandled out one by one. Inuyasha yelled, "No!" stretching a hand out, and struggling into a sitting position. Shippo hung onto Kagome with fright, but someone punched him off her shoulder. He cried out and hit the ground, dazed. Soon, only the three non-humans were left within. "Leave the two useless demons, but grab him!" They knew Inuyasha wouldn't resist much; their lord had told them so. They circled inward toward it. The battle-hardened warriors hesitated, though, when Kirara slowly lifted her head and snarled from deep in her throat. Her claws flexed, marking the floor.

One nervous man asked, "Are you sure about this?"

"Go on! Do as you're told!"

Finally, a single brave soul approached, flashed his arm out like lightning and snatched a startled Inuyasha away from Kirara, sending him sliding through the legs of the ring of men. The man dove behind them, as well, to let them deal with the cat. Then he gathered handfuls of fabric at Inuyasha's neck, lifting him. The chain trailed behind clinking; the blanket pooled on the floor. Inuyasha hung like a rag doll, forcing the man to hold all his weight, which he did, seemingly effortlessly. The soldier was taken aback, though, when he saw the sweat drenching the half-demon and felt the heat emanating outward in waves.

"Sir?" he asked over the noise of Kirara's battle. "I don't think it's well. Just look at it." An occasional shiver swept over Inuyasha, and pain grimaced over his face.

His superior looked disgusted. Even he couldn't deny that the half-wit was ill. "Just drop it, then. It's worthless to us that way."

"Yes, sir." He was still looking away when his hands suddenly began trembling violently. He turned back: Inuyasha was shivering convulsively. Inuyasha slowly raised his head and made eye contact with the soldier. The soldier met his gaze and held it neutrally as he released him. Inuyasha thudded on the stone floor, legs crumpling, and cried out. His foot injury began to bleed afresh.

Then the remaining samurai, some bleeding and unconscious – or worse, departed, slamming the door shut with a harsh, metal clang. Kirara, still large, padded over to Inuyasha's side, where Shippo already sat.

Shippo asked anxiously over Inuyasha's pain-racked form, "What are we going to do, Kirara?"

* * *

The day slowly crept by for Shippo. He dully kept the time by watching the sun change position through the small window. He grew to know every last crevice in the walls and ceiling. He even counted over and over the number of dents in the metal door. There were 14.

Inuyasha slept fitfully much of the day, tossing and turning, occasionally half-awakening when the pain from his foot engulfed him, reminding him not to wiggle. Kirara became so frustrated with him after a few hours that she gave up on lying next to him. So she turned back into a kitten, and entertained Shippo awhile with her playful antics.

Unfortunately, such amusement was fleeting. Shippo was tortured with worry about his friends, both the ones hours-missing and the flushed one across from him. Besides which, there was absolutely, positively, crushingly **nothing** to do! He could either sleep or stare blankly into space, it seemed.

Eventually, though, the sun neared the western horizon. Shippo cheered it on in the hopes that Kagome, Sango, and Miroku would soon return. Not that he wanted them to be locked up, too, but he wanted to see them.

Without any warning whatsoever, the opening door broke the forever silence. Three dark forms stumbled inside and the door swung shut again. They straightened, then gratefully and stiffly sat against the walls.

"Kagome! Miroku! Sango! You're back!" Shippo cried. He rushed around, hardly knowing whom to speak to first. It was shocking to have a change, too, after such mind-numbing constancy for so long. Kirara meowed, and nuzzled Sango, then hopped into her lap and promptly curled up, purring.

Miroku laughed, "Shippo! You're so silly…. It's quite refreshing after this terrible day." He let his voice trail off.

"What happened? Where did you guys go? Are you okay? Did they force you to do stuff?" Shippo maintained a fast, inexorable stream of demanding questions.

"Shippo, Shippo! Calm down so we can tell you." Kagome smiled reluctantly, but her face sobered as she contemplated the story. Shortly, Shippo did relax, and sat down to listen intently. Kagome checked on Inuyasha, first, though; she'd be unable to tell the tale if she didn't.

In essence, they'd learned that this cell was in the depths of Lord Atsuo's own house within the compound of the castle. All day, they'd worked and cleaned for "their new lord," as the soldiers were fond of repeating. Apparently, this setup was designed so that Atsuo could "keep an eye on them." No, they hadn't actually seen him. Later, when they were "loyal," they'd have tasks "more suited to their individual skills." The day had not been pleasant, to say the least.

"I have bruises everywhere, thanks to those brutes! Sometimes, I can't believe the way people in this era behave," Kagome complained.

"Yeah, it certainly wasn't a picnic for us, either," said Sango. "And I **saw** you, Miroku. You were groping those poor girls, asking them to bear your child." She huffed. "How typical, **monk.**"

"It's the hand!" Miroku protested, lifting his right, the one with the Wind Tunnel. "The curse runs deep!"

Sango just huffed again in disbelief and gave him a vicious glare. He cowered and began to sweat profusely. "Uh, Sango…?"

"WHAT!"

"Never mind," Miroku said in a small voice.

"Hey!" Inuyasha objected groggily. "Trying to sleep here."

Sango turned, struggling not to glare at him, too. Inuyasha blinked, and glanced at the cowed Miroku. He must've been womanizing again. Inuyasha still didn't understand what the big deal was, though. Or why it was Sango who always got upset. Eh, whatever.

"Oh! You guys are back," Inuyasha said. He yawned, and then used chinks in the wall to pull himself upright, even while keeping his foot steady – a difficult, but worthy, task.

"You only just noticed? Thanks a lot, Inuyasha," Kagome grumbled, even as she tried to help him.

He waved her off and said, "Hey! I was still half-asleep. Cut me some slack." He pulled strings of damp, gray hair off his face. "Man, I'm thirsty. We got any water?"

"So now you want water! Earlier you didn't want me to save any!" Kagome thought that he must be feeling better to sit up and ask for water. Especially since he sounded like his old, pugnacious self. She affectionately pulled his blanket higher for him.

"Uh, Kagome?" Shippo ventured, startled by her fluctuating mood.

"Yes?"

"All the water got spilled when you left."

She sighed. "And I don't suppose they gave you lunch?"

"No."

"Yeah, we didn't get any either. Dinner should be soon, though. Okay, Inuyasha?"

He smiled weakly, as disturbed as Shippo. "Yeah, okay."

Kagome was indeed correct: a meager delivery of food and water was soon forthcoming. Their chamber pot was removed, emptied, and returned as well.

"How kind of them," remarked Miroku, eyebrow raised.

After their meal – Inuyasha did drink a lot of water – Kagome used the scanty remainder for his foot. She overcame his objections by saying that he was too weak not to take precautions. She then gently unwrapped the bandage, revealing the puncture wound. She washed it, surprised at how fast he could heal, even when racked with fever: it had already closed over again. (She'd heard from Shippo that it'd reopened.) If he was human, it would probably never have closed yet at all, much less twice. She then rewrapped it with a fresh cloth torn once more from Miroku's voluminous robes.

Sango also tried to pick the lock on his chain with the earring again, but to no avail. "Ugh! This stud is so tiny!" She threw Miroku's earring at him in frustration. He protested and they argued briefly.

Afterward, the group chatted more amiably and tried to make new plans until no light remained. Then one by one, they all fell asleep, including Inuyasha. Inuyasha thought just before he drifted off that it was really annoying he was so tired. _What a weakling… this chain made him…. He was very glad… he wasn't…a full human…_.

* * *

The next day passed by very similarly to its predecessor. However, by the time that Miroku, Kagome and Sango plodded back from their forced drudgery and abuse, Inuyasha had degenerated dangerously.

"Holy cow! His skin is scorching!" Sango exclaimed when they arrived back at the cell.

"I know!" Shippo cried, tears on the brink of falling. "He just keeps getting worse! I didn't know what to do!"

Inuyasha was very deeply asleep, or perhaps unconscious, on his back in the corner. His face was flushed and covered with sweat. His clothes had absorbed the sweat and become damp. Yet more troubling, his hair was no longer a solid gray hue, but layered with tones, tints, and shades.

Miroku and Kagome hurriedly knelt next to him. Kagome felt his forehead as Sango had. She gasped. "He **is** scorching! We need to bring his fever down! But how?" she asked franticly.

"Well, we can at least take his blanket and suikan off," Miroku suggested. Swiftly, they removed the cover and shirt and laid him back down. "Touching this cold stone floor with his bare skin will help," he reassured her.

Kagome was nevertheless waxing hysterical. "It's not like we have ice or even water! There's nothing cold around here! What can we use, what can we use?" Shippo was beginning to go to pieces with her, as was Kirara.

Sango gripped her shoulders. "Calm down, Kagome. You can't help Inuyasha if you panic." She added in an undertone, "And Shippo and Kirara take their cues from us, so be careful."

Kagome nodded rapidly, forced herself to be calmer, and returned to Inuyasha's side. "Does anyone have any ideas?

There was a pause. Miroku mused, "It's too bad Shippo uses fox fire, and not fox ice. Hey, **could** you transform into ice?"

Shippo was taken aback. "Well, maybe," he at last replied. "It wouldn't last long, but it might work." He took out his special leaf, placed it on his forehead, and cried, "Transform!" A wooden blue cube stood where he'd been.

"No, Shippo! That's not ice. Try it again!" Kagome exclaimed. "Try harder!"

He transformed back to himself. He took a shaky breath. "Okay. Transform!"

"Aw, Shippo, that's metal! Again!"

Shippo was getting flustered. "I am trying! This isn't easy, you know! Transform!"

Plastic this time, like he'd seen among Kagome's things.

"Come on, Shippo, I know you can do it!" Sango interrupted Kagome's despairing cry. "Just one more time."

"Okay. All right. I can do this. Transform!"

At last, he was a block of ice.

"Great job, Shippo!" Miroku said.

Kagome shouted, "Yes!" She snatched him up and set him on Inuyasha's stomach. "Whoa!" Shippo said, startled, his mouth opening across the ice block. Eyes and a nose popped onto the surface, too.

"Sorry. But we don't have any time to waste," said Kagome as she swept over the half-demon with Shippo's transformed ice body.

"That tickles!" Shippo said and laughed. He tried to stay in form, but couldn't. It just tickled so much! He popped back to his normal state, sitting on Inuyasha's stomach. He hopped off.

Inuyasha began to shiver, anyway, the tremors growing violent. He awoke, but couldn't speak through his chattering teeth. He seemed surprised to be bare-chested and surrounded by his friends. He reached out feebly for his clothes and blanket.

"Inuyasha! No, we're trying to bring your fever down. It's way too high!" said Kagome.

"C-c-c-c-cold," Inuyasha managed to get out angrily.

"Are you sure, Kagome?" Miroku said. "Is this really a good idea?"

Her face twisted. "I don't know! Maybe! It's not like I've read about it recently!"

Inuyasha's lips were turning blue. "C-c-c-cold!" He reached out again. His muscles were starting to cramp from the shivering, and his foot pounded! A brutal cramp knotted the bicep of his right arm, and he clamped a hand on it, clenching his teeth.

"Come on, Kagome, I think we overdid it!" said Sango. She seized his clothes and pushed him upright, walking her hands up his back. He leaned against her chest. "Help me!" she exclaimed. Together, they succeeded in getting his quaking arms through the sleeves and then retying the front across him. They set him back on the floor. Watching anxiously, they waited.

He continued to shiver, though gentler now, and curled up on his side. Kagome gently brushed his multicolored bangs away from his brow, and felt his temperature. It was a little lower, thank goodness, but she didn't know how long it would stay that way.

"Inuyasha, how do you feel?" Miroku asked.

"C-c-cold. Duh." He frowned. "What d-d-do you m-mean, you overd-d-d-did it?"

"Well, Shippo transformed into an ice cube, and we tried to lower your fever. But, uh, I think we went too far. Maybe you're not supposed to use ice?"

"J-jeez. Thanks," Inuyasha said sarcastically.

Sango smacked his shoulder lightly. "Hey! We're trying to help!"

"Will you be okay now, Inuyasha?" asked Shippo tentatively, eyes huge and liquid. He stood sadly between Kagome and Sango.

He looked over. He'd most likely scared the bejesus out of the poor kid. "Y-y-yeah."

"Inuyasha…," Kagome warned. "Don't lie. We know how much you bluff, so don't even try it."

"What? I'm n-n-not!"

"Yeah, right," she muttered. Sango's and Miroku's faces agreed. "And don't you ever scare me like that again!"

"Like I t-tried," he said under his breath. He was finally relaxing, though his foot ached like nobody's business. Reflexively, he moved to wrap his hand around it, but stopped mid-motion. It didn't hurt enough for them to see him do that.

"Does your foot hurt?" asked Kagome instantly. "Here, let me see." Without waiting for a reply, she moved to his feet and took off the cloth. She jerked. "Whoa!"

"What?" Inuyasha asked, alarmed.

"It's red and swollen," she admitted. "Feels hot, too. I think it's infected!"

Inuyasha let his head thump onto the ground. "Great."

"That must be why your fever's so bad!" cried Shippo.

"We need to get that leash off ASAP," said Miroku. "You'd never have gotten an infection without it."

"That's the truth. And just look at your hair! It's a million different colors!" Sango exclaimed. "You're getting worse."

Miroku said, "Even as beautiful as the women are around here, we need to escape."

"Yeah, okay…." Inuyasha waved a hand dismissively. His eyelids were drooping. He wouldn't think so, but shivering was actually exhausting. He yawned, and then huffed. He had a fever, and an infection, and a stupid metal chain around his neck that sapped his demon power. That many disasters at once was ridiculous.

"Don't you want to eat anything, Inuyasha?" Sango asked. "They're probably bringing food soon."

"Not hungry." He yawned for a second time, flashing small fangs. "You guys go ahead."

Kagome tried to feel his forehead again, but he deflected her hand and glared sleepily at her. She sighed, and let it go. Sometimes it just wasn't worth the effort.

* * *

Yellow morning light suffused the cool, dim cell. Three of their number had awakened gently from its touch; Shippo, Kagome, and Inuyasha were still slumbering. Miroku and Sango spoke softly together:

"Say, Miroku, what will you do when the curse of your Wind Tunnel is broken? After we kill Naraku and everything?" Kirara purred in Sango's lap.

Solemnly, he took up her hand and replied, "How can you be so certain that we will defeat him in time?"

She tightened her hand around his. "We have to defeat him! I won't let you be sucked in by your own Wind Tunnel! I have no other choice but to be certain."

Miroku smiled at her. Then he answered her original question. "I'm not really sure what I'd do if it disappears. I've had it for as long as I can remember."

"Yes…. Naraku first placed the blight on your grandfather."

"That's right. And it traveled over the generations to me." Miroku discreetly slid one arm around Sango's shoulders, maintaining his hold on her hand with his other. She looked at him suspiciously, but he pretended not to notice.

"Well," she finally said, "will you still slay demons with us?" _And with me?_ she thought.

"It's kind of difficult to say at this point. Inuyasha might want to do his own thing – you know how he is."

"Yeah…."

"We may split up. After all, Kagome can't keep traveling between her era and ours, can she?"

"I suppose." _But don't you want to stay with me?_

"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it." He inched his hand ever lower on her back.

"Hmm."

"What's wrong, Sango?"

"What? Oh, nothing. Hey! Get your hand off me! You pervert!" She slapped him, leaving a vibrant red handprint. "I knew you were up to something!"

He exhaled audibly and raised a hand to his cheek. "Every time. The same spot."

Shippo and Kagome stirred at the commotion. Shippo groaned, "Aw, come on. You're at it again, aren't you, Miroku?" _What an idiot._

Kagome blinked rapidly and yawned. "Morning already, huh?" She stretched. "Come on, Inuyasha, wake up. It's morning." She crawled to him. She saw that he was a little pale and his still-multicolored hair was a bit disheveled, but he seemed okay. _Thank goodness, _she thought. She really didn't want a repeat of last night. She shook him.

He didn't respond. Normally, he'd wake at the slightest sound, constantly on alert. Poor Inuyasha, so sick, and so completely unused to it! Half-demons rarely, if ever, fall ill.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Enough is enough. You have the whole day to sleep after we leave." She smacked her hand on his chest.

Nothing.

"Inuyasha! Come on, wake up!" She grabbed his upper arms and shook his entire body up and down.

No change.

She whirled to her friends, her eyes wide and glistening. Terror plastered her face. "He's not waking up!" She twisted back and pressed her ear to his chest. She sighed with relief. "He's still breathing."

"Good," Sango breathed shakily. They all gathered around Inuyasha.

Shippo leapt onto Inuyasha. "Come on, Inuyasha, wake up! INUYASHA!" Shippo yelled into his dog ear. "Say 'sit', Kagome! I bet he'll wake up then! That'll work if nothing else does!"

Sango and Miroku began to object, but Kagome nodded, sudden hope lighting her eyes, and quickly cried, "Sit, boy!" Inuyasha's long-worn, enchanted necklace lit up and slammed him into the ground. Shippo jumped with surprise.

A heavy grunt escaped Inuyasha's lungs, and he flinched, but there was no other response.

Kagome burst into tears. "He didn't wake up! How – what – what can we…?" she blubbered.

Shippo started to cry, too. Kirara meowed and bound onto Inuyasha next to the fox demon; she sinuously tried to offer Shippo comfort, rubbing against him and gazing at him sadly. He picked her up and held her tightly, letting the tears drip off his chin.

Miroku said shakily, "Come on, you guys, he's alive. There's got to be something we can do." He felt Inuyasha's sweaty cheek with the backs of his fingers. The heat nearly seared his flesh. He swore. "He's boiling!"

Sango cried, "Shippo! Transform! And quickly!"

"Right!" Shippo perked up and dived a hand into his shirt for his leaf. "Transform!" Kirara meowed loudly, back arching. She leapt off. Sango picked up Shippo's ice-cube body and rapidly swept him over Inuyasha. At the first touch, though, Inuyasha jerked involuntarily and rapidly began shivering, still unconscious.

"Stop, Sango!" Miroku cried.

"I already did!" she replied indignantly.

Shippo popped to normal again. "Will he be better now?"

No one answered. Kagome laid over Inuyasha and hugged him tightly. "Inuyasha, please don't die!" she sobbed.

Suddenly, she sprang up and ran to the door. She pounded her fists on it, yelling, crying and screaming for several minutes. The others sat startled. Miroku, after a moment, rechecked Inuyasha's temperature; it seemed the same as before, but he continued to shiver violently.

Finally, the cell door swung open, slamming into Kagome and abruptly ceasing her screams. She stumbled Shippo snapped his head up and ran to the soldier thus revealed. "PLEASE!" he immediately sobbed. "Inuyasha needs help! He's burning up!"

The man just stood there, annoyed.

Kagome pitched in, "Please! He'll die!" She kneeled beside the half-demon, snatched his quivering hand and held it desperately to her chest.

"Well, what do you expect me to do?"

"He needs a doctor!" she exclaimed, her voice congested with tears.

"You think I'm going to get a slave, a **non-human**, a doctor?" he asked incredulously.

Shippo clasped the soldier's leg tightly, wetting his pants with his tears. "You have to help him!"

The man looked down, completely flabbergasted to have a young demon clutching his leg. He kicked vigorously, trying to throw Shippo off, but he clung like a leech.

"PLEASE!" Shippo yelled. "HELP HIM!"

He set his leg back down and looked at Inuyasha for the first time. It was true that the mutt didn't look very good. Actually, it strangely seemed to be lying in a bit of a crater. He sighed; there seemed to be no other recourse. That crazy girl would probably start screaming again if he didn't give in, and it was already giving him a headache. "Fine, I'll talk to my captain. But he won't do anything."

"Thank you! Thank you!" Shippo and Kagome chorused.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He left, relocking the door.

They waited and watched in fretful suspense for what seemed like hours before the two samurai returned. The captain demanded, "So what's this about a sick dog?"

"It's Inuyasha," Miroku struggled to explain calmly. "His fever is really high and he's unconscious. He might die!"

"Yeah?" he said disinterestedly. "So what?" He muttered to his subordinate, "You bothered me for this?"

Sango had an epiphany. "I bet your lord would be really angry with you if you let his **very** expensive new slave die."

At that, the man's face grew troubled. He considered it and eventually admitted to himself that she was probably right. The penalty for **that** would be much more severe than getting it to one of their doctors. "Fine. We'll take it to the infirmary."

They all nearly collapsed with relief.

"What are you waiting for?" the captain yelled. They jumped. "Pick it up! NOW!"

They jumped and complied. When they picked him up, they found Inuyasha's shivering to be vaguely problematic. Sango nevertheless piled the chain on Inuyasha's chest to get it out of the way. She and Kagome grasped his shoulders, while Miroku took his legs. Suddenly, the monk froze and sniffed. He whispered to the others, "I can smell his infection." Their entire bodies tightened in distress. When they lifted him, Inuyasha's whole body jerked and he moaned reflexively, grimacing with pain. Miroku saw the claws on his right foot recede into human toenails, and raised his gaze to Sango's and Kagome's frightened faces. They stood there holding him, unsure of what to do. They needed to carry him, didn't they?

The captain turned to leave, though, making their decision for them, which hadn't really been one in the first place, anyway. Shippo discreetly jumped up and squirmed within Miroku's ample robes, startling him. Kirara followed suit and hid among the folds. Luckily, neither the guard nor the captain noticed that they were locking nothing but air within the cell.

The soldier and captain walked off unhurriedly, but the troupe didn't dare say anything lest they change their minds about Inuyasha. Still, they anxiously wished to go faster. The captain led them through a veritable maze of hallways, alleys, and gardens before finally reaching the hospice. Gratefully, they set Inuyasha on a pallet in the large single room of the building. Few other beds were occupied. They massaged their aching arms, and knelt around him. Miroku was careful not to reveal Shippo or Kirara hiding within his robes. The single soldier remained angrily on guard as the captain left in search of a doctor.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

A serene old man approached the group, his hands peacefully tucked in the sleeves of opposite arms. He brought with him a calming, spiritual aura especially helpful at a sickbed. The strong, old monk remained unperturbed when he saw Inuyasha's alien features. He knelt next to the group.

"What has happened?" he asked of their anxious expressions.

Kagome immediately launched into a fast, unintelligible stream of words.

"Slowly, child. Begin at the beginning," he said gently.

She stopped speaking, tears glistening in her eyes. Sango took over and described what had occurred, covering only pertinent information and entirely excluding Shippo and Kirara from the tale, along with their escape attempt, of course. About that incident she said only that a guard had injured his foot, which had now become infected.

Miroku interrupted, "It's the chain! You have to take it off! That's what's doing the damage!"

The captain, who stood nearby unnoticed, interjected, "Absolutely not. Lord Atsuo has instructed that it not be removed for any reason. I dare not go against such explicit orders."

The physician-monk listened respectfully, but turned back to Miroku and asked, "This chain?" He lightly set his fingertips on it where it had spilled onto the pallet. "Hmm, yes. I can sense its powers." He proceeded to examine Inuyasha, feeling his forehead and unwrapping his puncture wound. It had slightly reopened again, enough to be oozing yellow pus and blood. The odor was disquieting. The monk removed a knife and pan from within his pocket-ridden robes. He sliced the wound open somewhat and set it in the pan to drain. He then tucked his hands in his sleeves and said,

"Tell me more about him and this chain. He is a half-demon?"

"Yes!" interrupted Sango. "But it has somehow kept him in a sort of quarter-demon state. But it's worse than that! It's making him sick! His fever is really high!"

The physician-monk nodded, sensing the truth of this. He could feel the vile aura of the chain spreading through his patient like a poison. He was silent while he considered his options. He took cloth and herbs out from his pockets and cared for the foot wound.

Finally, he said sympathetically, "I will speak to Lord Atsuo." Their faces lit up. "Be warned, I can guarantee nothing. I can but do my best." They nodded eagerly.

The captain snickered derisively. "You're deluded, monk."

"So be it. I shall soon return." He rose and glided off as a swan upon still waters.

When the other man had gone, the captain said, "Come on, then. You got what you wanted. Time to earn your keep."

"No!" Kagome cried. "Please! Let us stay with him!" She gripped Inuyasha's limp hand like she'd gone through rigor mortis. "Please!"

"No!" he said harshly. "Now come along." He grabbed her arm tightly.

She threw herself onto Inuyasha and refused to let go. "NO!" she sobbed. When he tried to lift her by the arm, he lifted both of them. He dropped her. She was probably going to start screeching again, the banshee. Hysterical, useless b$**.

He unsheathed his katana and leveled it at Sango's throat. "Get up," he hissed malevolently. "Walk in front of me. You, too! GET UP!" The other soldier slowly drew his own sword. "Go," he whispered to Miroku horribly.

Stiffly, Miroku and Sango complied, glancing back anxiously. Kagome raised her blotched, wet face and watched them leave, still crying her heart out atop Inuyasha. Miroku worried about her and about Shippo and Kirara – they were still hiding in his clothes! What would happen to them if they were found…? The group disappeared from Kagome's sight.

Several soldiers arrived at the infirmary a while later and took up positions around Kagome and Inuyasha. They glanced at one another upon hearing her on-going hysteria.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome bawled. She was still holding his unresponsive body with all her might. Her sobs shook them both. "Miroku! Sango!" They'd been taken away! What was she going to do? "Inuyasha!" At least they'd finally found cause for hope! She couldn't stop crying for her life.

Gradually, though, her sobs slowed and stopped. She sniffled. She sat up on a hip and wiped her face. It felt swollen from so much crying. She sniffled again and breathed out shakily, wiping strings of hair back behind her ear. She glanced up at the ring of men, too worn out to care about their presence. She laid back down and curled against Inuyasha's right side, pillowing her head on his shoulder and throwing an arm across his chest. He'd probably be mad and embarrassed if he woke up to find her like this. She hoped he **would** wake up and snarl at her again.

About an hour passed before the old monk returned. Slight surprise showed on his face when he saw the guards and noted the absence of Miroku and Sango. "Child," he said, shaking Kagome awake.

She looked up groggily, but sat bolt upright when she saw the monk. "Well?" she inquired.

His expression was a subtle mixture of pleasure, guilt, and dismay. "Lord Atsuo has agreed to remove the fetter for the time being." Kagome swayed with relief. "However," the monk's eyes were apologetic as he spoke, "he's ordered it to be altered and then reattached. I fear it may not be an alteration to your liking."

Kagome said quickly, "As long as he'll be okay, I don't care. Do you have the key?"

He nodded and held it up.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry!" She scurried to Inuyasha's left side and out of the way.

He placed the key and locked eyes with Kagome as he turned it. The delicate machinery ticked and released the catch. He removed the lock. Gently, the monk slid the chain out from under Inuyasha's neck and coiled it to the side.

They both waited silently. After no response was forthcoming, Kagome clasped Inuyasha's hand to her chest and fought more tears. The old monk set his hand on her shoulder reassuringly and opened his mouth to speak.

Inuyasha's hand tightened visibly around Kagome's, stopping the monk. She gasped. He opened his eyes and whispered, "Kagome?"

"Inuyasha!" Now she did cry. "You're okay!"

Suddenly his whole body went rigid. His ochre eyes widened and stared at Kagome. He began to convulse violently. She released his hand in shock.

"What's happening to him?" she asked franticly. The physician-monk didn't answer, just stared helplessly.

Inuyasha continued to shake, foaming at the mouth now. The guards cried out, backing away and whispering to one another about rabies. Inuyasha's nails and canines lengthened into fangs and claws. His hair and ears turned to pure white, his eyes to golden yellow. Kagome swept all the nearby hard objects away in a distressed attempt to do something, anything. Then she squatted next to him, her hands at her mouth, powerless and uncertain. The seizure seemed to last a hellish eternity.

But at last it ended. All his muscles turned to jelly, and his eyes closed. He was asleep.

Kagome asked tearfully, "Is he okay?"

The monk-physician shrugged feebly. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Oh, Inuyasha…," she whispered, stroking his long hair.

* * *

Kagome's scent. Familiar medicinal herbs and tinctures. The smell of illness. Soap. The faint residue from many different injured men. Incense. Sweat.

Gentle sounds of sleep. Kagome's deep breathing. A light breeze that stirred his hair. A distant soldier yelling orders.

Sharp, intruding pain in his foot – and in teeth, nails, eyes, and ears. A dull ache throughout. Hmm. No chills. No nausea. Man, he was hungry.

He opened his eyes. Dimness. A large, indoor space. Rows of pallets. Kagome curled on the one to his left.

He raised a hand to his head. Ugh, it was pounding! He still felt better than he had before – he must've been pretty bad to make it to a hospital. Where were the others?

He sat up slowly. Hey! No rattle! Where…? He quickly felt his neck, and touched skin. No metal. The chain was gone! Holy s$%*! Why was it gone? Wait a minute. It's gone! Yes! No wonder he felt more like himself.

He looked down. Claws! He ran his tongue over his teeth. And fangs! His hearing and sense of smell were normal again. Ah, finally. He was returning to his half-demon form at long, long last.

"Kagome!" He lightly touched her arm.

"Inuyasha?" she said slowly. "INUYASHA!" she screamed, waking everyone in a one-kilometer radius. She hurled her arms around him and squeezed tightly enough to constrict his breathing. "Inuyasha! I was so worried!"

He winced, patted her a little and said in a voice compressed, "Kagome!"

Immediately, she loosened her hold. "Sorry." She curved her hand to his cheek. "Are you okay?"

He started to nod, but stopped as pain enveloped his head. "Yeah. What happened? And is there any food? I feel like I haven't eaten in a month."

She chuckled softly. "I don't know about food, but I can tell you what happened." And she told him the tale, moving to the foot of the pallet where she could gaze dreamily at him.

"Jeez. No wonder my muscles feel sore," was all he said.

"Really?" she asked in concern.

Quickly, he said, "Not really. Now what about that food?" He sniffed. "Hmm. Here it comes. Handy."

A few moments later, the old monk appeared. He smiled and said, "Here." He handed over a heaping tray of nutritious food. Then he shook his head and muttered to himself in amazement at the speed of healing, "Wow. I guess there are some advantages to being a half-demon."

Inuyasha ignored him, too busy chopsticking food down his gullet. Kagome beamed at the monk and at Inuyasha, too happy for words. Inuyasha's bruises and fever had disappeared, and his foot was healing rapidly. He was awake! The chain was off.

At that thought, however, she felt dismay. "Excuse me," she said to the monk, "do you know how they're going to alter the collar?"

Inuyasha paused, eyeing him.

The typically serene monk-physician shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not, child. But it won't be good."

Inuyasha looked to Kagome, still poised over his food. She inquired, "Well, can you tell us more about the chain?"

"I know only that it was meant for subjugation. But apparently, it did its job too well. Another, most likely similar, method will take its place."

Kagome met Inuyasha's troubled, furious eyes. He looked away and began eating again.

* * *

Reawakening at dawn, Inuyasha stretched and yawned. He flicked his ears. Ah, he was so relieved to have that collar off. Only a slightly painful twinge remained. Just about back to normal.

"Kagome. Wake up," he said.

She rolled over and blinked. "What?" she moaned.

"It's morning. Isn't that great?"

"Uh, no. Let me sleep."

"Oh, come on." He lowered his voice. "Now is the best time to escape. Duh."

She merely blinked dumbly at him. "What?"

"C'mon, Kagome, wake up!" He laughed, happy to feel so healthy and alive. "Wake up!" he demanded petulantly, mock-pouting.

She smiled in spite of herself. "You're in a good mood."

He frowned at her and made to pull her up when she didn't move off her pallet. "All right, all right, I'm up," she said. "Jeez."

Kagome propped herself against the wall, running her fingers through her hair. "I wish I had a brush. My hair is so tangled." She lowered her hands and looked thoughtfully at Inuyasha. "Yours is, too."

He flattened his ears to his head and glared. "No. Way. You are not getting anywhere near my hair."

She smiled wistfully and turned away. "Relax. I don't even have a brush." She added to herself, "Though I would like to comb it." He growled. His white hair rarely, if ever, felt a brush. A half-demon in feudal Japan wouldn't worry about that sort of thing, according to Inuyasha. Although, she doubted he was normal even by half-demon standards, not that there were many of those around. It was probably just an Inuyasha thing. She sighed.

Kagome said, "All right, well, let's get out of here, then. You obviously feel well now, so let's find Miroku and Sango. And Shippo and Kirara," she added worriedly. "I hope they weren't discovered."

Inuyasha replied, "I'm sure they're fine. They can take of themselves." He yawned again, and then bounced to his feet. "Let's eat, first. It smells good…."

"What smells good? Food? Where is it?"

Inuyasha had already started to wander away. "Let's go, Kagome."

She thought darkly to herself, thoughts tinged with amusement and pleasure, _He always just leaves without explaining why. _

He located the source of the smell: the old monk was cooking breakfast. Inuyasha blurted, "Is it done yet?"

Kagome stepped up behind Inuyasha just as the monk jumped sky high and put a fluttering hand to his heart. After Kagome scolded the half-demon – he wasn't really sure why – they ate the meal the monk expanded to feed three.

Inuyasha gobbled down his lion's share, and then had the audacity to stare at Kagome in boredom while she ate. She protested to his tacit condemnation, "I eat normally. You're just a speed demon."

He cocked his head at her. "No, I'm a half-demon. What's a speed demon? I've never fought one of those before."

She rolled her eyes. Sometimes she forgot that slang didn't travel well through the centuries. She continued eating. Inuyasha stopped staring at her and instead stared into the distance. A strange look came over his face.

"Inuyasha? Are you okay?"

He looked up, and seemed to shake off whatever had been bothering him. "Yeah."

"Jeez," she muttered in relief and frustration. "You're a lot of trouble lately, you know that? Worrying me and freaking me out one minute, then driving me crazy the next. Don't you have anything in between?"

"Oh, ha, ha. Like it's my fault this happened," Inuyasha replied.

"Yeah? Well, maybe it is," she said, just to spite him.

"Is not!"

"Is, too!"

"_Nu-uh!"_

"_Nu-huh!"_

Inuyasha cut himself off. "Kagome? _Kagome?_" He reached for her.

"Just… a bit… woozy." She swayed, holding her head. "Ow."

"Kagome? What's wrong?" he demanded.

Her face pinched. "It hurts," she said, perplexed and surprised.

"_What_ hurts?" He was growing frantic.

"My head…. Jeez. Ouch…."

Inuyasha instigated another demand, but stopped, suddenly, ephemerally too exhausted. He began again. "How am I supposed to help you when you won't tell me what's wrong?"

Kagome glanced askance at him, her head pounding. "I did tell you. And don't talk so loud. It makes it hurt worse."

Inuyasha rounded on the monk. Suddenly, the man smelled of guilt. "What did you do?" he hissed.

The poor old physician cowered. He grabbed a small bell from within his robes and rang it franticly, an apologetic, guilty look on his face. Soldiers rushed in, clattering loudly. Kagome cringed and, after shoving the empty plates away, put her head on the table, covering it with both arms.

A man most ornately dressed said, "Good job, monk. Now, out of our way." The man shoved the monk roughly out the back door to the herb garden through which the soldiers had entered. The aristocratic man yanked it shut. The magical chain was coiled and hooked onto his belt.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet, fighting off the encroaching fatigue. He put himself in front of Kagome and took his suikan off, causing the guards' eyebrows to raise. With his white undershirt thus revealed, he threw the scarlet shirt at her for protection,. "Kagome? Get out of here." He settled into a fighter's stance: feet apart, knees bent, hands up and ready.

"Yeah, okay." She stood up, putting it on. Turning around, she staggered out the other door toward the beds.

Inuyasha swiveled his right ear and listened intently, hearing her stumble a few times, but she made it to the outer door. It swung shut, cutting her away from him.

The soldiers had been cautiously advancing as he stood listening, still poised for battle. His eyes hadn't moved away from their leader, who leaned against a wall and watched.

Inuyasha queried angrily, "What do you want?"

The senior officer raised an eyebrow. "Your obedience."

Inuyasha snorted. "Make me." Inwardly, though, he knew that whatever the monk had given him would make him slower. These were just humans, however. Easy prey.

"Take him down, men!"

Inuyasha's lip curled in contempt. There was absolutely no way he was going to let them put that thing back around his neck. He'd die first. And so would they. His conscience twinged slightly, but he ignored it. He had no other option.

The samurai yelled battle cries and rushed toward the half-demon. He blocked their weak, human blows easily. Their swords couldn't harm his robe-protected legs, so he only evaded attacks to his torso. "Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!" he cried, slashing with his innate demon strength. Two soldiers died in one sweep of his claws. Their blood dripped off his fingers as he panted.

They paused, wary. The monk had been instructed to use three times the normal dose, but this monster hardly seemed affected. Their leader yelled, "What are you waiting for? Get him!" He drew his own katana at last, joining them, boosting their morale. They circled around Inuyasha within the kitchen built to feed an injured army.

Inuyasha ran at a man, yelling the name of his battle maneuver. The satisfying feeling of clawing, ripping through flesh was immediately followed by a white-hot pain in his right shoulder. He cried out, the sword's quick removal almost as painful as its penetration. He whirled and demolished the soldier. He wouldn't allow another to wound him again, he vowed.

The nervous, but determined soldiers took aim, one or two at a time thrusting and slashing at him. Their careful strategies were wasted on his brute strength and temper. He didn't bother after a time to parry blows. He just slaughtered them before they could lift their weapons. Men died under his claws until only a handful remained. Blood made the floor slick.

The senior samurai, gazing around at the casualties, said sadly, "Well, I didn't want to have to do this. But you forced my hand. Bring them in!"

Miroku, Sango, and Kagome – all bruised and the first two bound – toppled through the garden door. Kirara's and Shippo's voices sounded with the others, muffled and audible only to Inuyasha's sharp hearing. Inuyasha gasped and stepped toward them. An ephemeral moment of inattention was all it took for another man to thrust his blade. Inuyasha cried out and fell to his knees.

Kagome screamed when she saw the katana protrude from his right upper arm. Blood covered him. It soaked into the knees of his hakama. "Inuyasha!" Her head pounded in time with the yelled syllables, but she couldn't care less. "Inuyasha!"

Miroku and Sango were baffled by this strange turn of events. Last time they saw Inuyasha, he'd been near death. Now he was battling soldiers to prevent the replacement of the chain? Why? But judging by the ratio of corpses to those still standing, he hadn't had much trouble.

"Now, let us put this on," the captain patted the chain, "and we won't hurt your friends."

Inuyasha looked at their injured faces as he staggered upright, struggling not to succumb to the drug and wounds.

He charged the captain.

"Ah, ah, ah! Too slow!" His sword poised to thrust through Inuyasha's midsection. He nodded at the men who'd entered behind the prisoners.

Their cries filled the air.

"No!" Inuyasha yelled, beginning to turn their way. The captain slashed Inuyasha's chest almost daintily, sketching a thin line of blood. "Ah, ah, ah! The only way to help them is to put on this." He smiled maliciously as he unhooked the chain and held it forth.

Sango yelled, "Don't, Inuyasha!"

"Kill him!" hollered Miroku.

Whips cracked over both their backs, and they flinched, but didn't cry out. Kagome was rolling on the floor, holding her ears. Tears leaked out of her squeezed-shut eyes.

"Don't do it, Inuyasha!" Sango screamed again.

Unsmelled and unheard soldiers circled behind Inuyasha, circumspect in their movements.

She called, "Look out!" Too late. His lower back was gashed open, the two flaps of skin bleeding profusely. He clenched his teeth to hold in the scream. He collapsed to his knees once more.

Kagome looked up. His back was facing her, and she saw the gaping wound. "INUYASHA!" A flogger whistled as it came down on her back. She shrieked reflexively. Bewildered, though, she felt no pain. …Inuyasha's robe!

Inuyasha jerked with her scream. His muscles trembled and struggled to hold him upright, but the drug had a soporific effect. His drugged body kept relaxing sleepily, forcing him to catch himself as he leaned one way or another. His wounds throbbed, spreading yet more blood over him.

He fell on his face, still trembling and now half-asleep.

The senior officer nodded and said to himself, "About time. Although, I wonder. Are men's lives really worth the one slave?" He shook his thoughts away. He squatted on Inuyasha's right. The half-demon tensed.

Kagome stood up in the quiet, unnoticed, and kneed her soldier in the groin. He groaned and toppled. She snatched his belt knife and hurled herself toward the captain. She fought not to scream her desperation. Her arm swung around, and plunged downward.

At nearly the same moment, Inuyasha swept his left hand out, aiming for the captain's throat.

The captain merely stepped up and back.

Kagome's and Inuyasha's eyes widened. Her arm continued to circle, now heading toward Inuyasha. Inuyasha's deadly claws kept moving, now for Kagome. All he could do was change the trajectory just enough to miss. Kagome began to release her blade, but before she could, their weapons collided. The knife stabbed through his hand up to the hilt.

Kagome screamed, the sound tearing apart her ears. She began to cry and apologize, falling to her knees and clutching his bloody shirt. Inuyasha held his impaled left hand and refused her apologies.

"No need," he muttered, his eyes fluttering closed.

The captain waited briefly, and then motioned to a soldier, who shoved Kagome away. He dragged her back to Miroku and Sango, who were helpless to assist. The leader kicked Inuyasha. He sprawled on his face, jarring the knife painfully. He cried out. He wasn't angry about it, though. Must be the drug, he mused dreamily.

As Miroku, Sango, and Kagome struggled, the captain withdrew the chain and lock once more. He knelt with one leg on Inuyasha's back, sweeping his hair aside. It landed in a cooling pool of blood, soaking red. Inuyasha fought automatically, but the herbs made him sluggish. The horrid, hated chain whirled around his neck and clicked closed, locking him in a deep, dark dungeon of no escape.

His task finally completed, and at great cost, the captain stood up, looping the leash around his hand. He tugged. "Get up."

Inuyasha's right fist tightened. This brought the knife skewered through Inuyasha's other hand to the leader's attention. He pulled it out and handed it hilt-first to its original owner. Inuyasha flinched as his hand began to bleed faster.

"Get up!" the captain cried, yanking on the collar.

_Déjà vu_, Inuyasha thought languorously. They really like to choke me with that thing. He tried to get angry, but the feeling kept sliding away from him. He decided he really didn't like these herbs, whatever they were. Though all he could really feel now, besides the pain, was a sort of floating peacefulness. Strange. Wasn't it supposed to make him sleep, not… this? Hmm. He could hear the captain yelling from a long way off. What was he going on about? Oh. He was supposed to get up. Well, okay. Don't know what all the fuss is about. 'S not that hard. Right?

Oh. Maybe it is. His muscles didn't seem to want to respond. He wondered why…. Oh, yeah, he was hurt. At the thought, the pain flooded back.

All of a sudden, he realized he was moving somehow. He picked up his hanging, pounding head. Sango and Miroku were carrying him, his arms over their shoulders. When were they untied? What just happened? The emotion of confusion drifted away. All his emotions seemed to be doing that lately.

What's this? Their old cell? Well, that was strange. Weren't they just in the hospital, eating with the monk? No, wait. Something happened in between there… .


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Finally! (Sorry.) Okay, I just gave up on the editing that I wasn't doing, so here, have a chapter! ^_^

**Chapter 8**

Shippo and Kirara staggered out of Miroku's robes at last, sweaty, disheveled, and irritable. "That was a terrible idea!" Shippo cried, as if they'd thought of it. He stopped. "Whoa! Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha twitched. He was sitting with his knees drawn up against his chest, his forehead resting on them. His torso was bare, and Kagome was dressing his wounds. Inuyasha raised his head and smiled absentmindedly, sweetly. Shippo stood and stared.

He said, unnerved, without looking away from Inuyasha, "Uh, you guys?"

Sango answered, "He's drugged."

Shippo relaxed and said in an embarrassed way, "Yeah. Right. I heard that."

"You may have heard it, but he's a sight to see," Miroku spoke. "It's totally creepy."

Sango agreed, "I second the motion."

As Kagome finished tying the bandage wrapped around his lower back, she said, "Oh, come on. It's not that creepy."

Miroku raised an eyebrow. "Even you can't really believe that."

She sighed and relented. "Yeah, you're right. But… I don't know. Somehow, it seems mean to say." She reached for his left hand, but accidentally jarred it instead.

Inuyasha pulled his hand down, cradling it between his chest and thighs. He frowned at her. "Come on, Inuyasha. Give me your hand." He obeyed instantly, startling her. She'd been prepared for an all-out battle. "Well, okay, then. I guess."

She wrapped it snugly. "Too tight?"

He just continued gazing at her, as he had the whole time she wrapped his hand.

"Inuyasha?" she asked anxiously, tightening her grip around his fingers.

"Hmm?"

"Tell me if I wrapped it too tightly."

"It's fine," he murmured absently. He yawned. Then he took his hand back, folded his arms on his knees, and put his head down again.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked once more.

He hummed.

"Aren't you cold? Do you want to put your shirt back on?"

He shrugged, and then winced.

Kagome looked at Miroku, Sango, and Shippo for help. "Should I make him put it on?" her face asked.

Shippo tugged on Inuyasha's hakama _(split skirt)_. "Inuyasha?"

"Hmm."

"Put on your suikan."

He unfolded and reached for it. Shippo was shocked, and then giddy. "Wow! Did you guys see that? He did what I told him to!" He clapped his hands, eager for this chance at revenge. Inuyasha was always being mean to him, and now he, Shippo, had the upper hand! The possibilities were endless!

Miroku folded his arms. "Shippo. Don't go getting any ideas. Much as I'd like to join in, now's not the time."

Shippo slipped his hands to his sides in disappointment. "Aw… but I'll never get another chance!"

Miroku and Shippo continued arguing while Inuyasha slowly, painfully, pulled on his shredded undershirt and magically repaired red top. Kagome laid her hand on his forearm in sympathy. He paused, looking at her, waiting. "Go on, Inuyasha." He finished tying it closed. "You should sleep now. That would probably be best."

He nodded, and lied down, closing his eyes.

* * *

Inuyasha awoke burning with anger.

Someone was wrenching his neck with that chain. His eyes snapped open. He grasped the metal between both hands and struggled furiously to tear it off. Gaining no margin of success, he jerked to his feet and crouched, hands out, claws at the ready. He growled.

"Come on, you mangy cur. Lord Atsuo demands that you pay him back for all the trouble you've caused."

Inuyasha ignored the soldier, looking around at his new surroundings. Atsuo was sitting not far away on some sort of raised platform in a large room open to the midday air. He was quite elaborately dressed. Miroku, Sango, and Kagome sat submissively near him, angering Inuyasha. Soldiers edged the area. They were tense and ready for anything. Atsuo seemed unconcerned, however, which really pissed him off.

"What's your problem?" Inuyasha called antagonistically.

Atsuo smiled grimly and tightened his left hand. "You are. But you won't be for much longer."

"Oh, yeah? Good luck trying."

"Oh, I don't need luck. Just this." He raised his fist. A ruby-red ring glinted in the sun.

Inuyasha snorted. "A ring? You think a ring is supposed to scare me?"

Atsuo fisted his hand, pointed it straight at Inuyasha, and held it there. Nothing happened. Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. He laughed derisively. "Looks like you do need luck, Atsuo!"

Inuyasha's voice cut off. He clutched his chest, mouth gaping open. His eyes bulged. He couldn't breathe!

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, rising to her feet.

"Yes, go to it," Lord Atsuo said sarcastically. "But then, this is just the beginning."

Kagome glared at Atsuo, and then gazed helplessly at Inuyasha.

Atsuo suddenly glowered at Kagome, and then relaxed. "No matter. This was my intention all along. This dirty half-demon needs to learn his lesson." He turned back to Inuyasha, fisting his hand hard enough to whiten his knuckles.

Suddenly, Inuyasha screamed in blinding agony. It was blood-curdling, gut-wrenching, and desolate in its suffering. Inuyasha shrieked again, its resonance nearly unearthly. His chain glowed brilliantly white, humming with intensity. Its reverberation joined Inuyasha's voice, forging an extreme dissonance.

Inuyasha knelt, his head thrown back, hands forming contortionist's claws at his chest. The blinding, vibrating chain streamed out of the soldier's hand to the lord, who snatched it. Atsuo cried, "YOU WILL OBEY ME!" His ring pulsed with his words a red glow. The red flowed through the metal and circled Inuyasha's neck in what seemed like a caress. But Inuyasha screamed and trembled with anguish. His face glistened in the red light. The scarlet glow continued to encircle his neck, swirling faster and faster.

"INUYASHA!" his friends yelled. **"INUYASHA!"** They all surged toward Lord Atsuo, but the soldiers engaged them in hand-to-hand.

"STOP IT!" Kagome screeched, her voice cracking. Her tears flowed freely. She stretched her hand out to Atsuo, temporarily safe as Sango and Miroku fought off the samurai. "STOP!"

Atsuo ignored her. A maniacal grin slit his face, lit disturbingly by the light from his ring.

Inuyasha screamed until his lungs felt like they nearly collapsed, then took a deep breath and shrieked again. He was blind to everything but the pain. He could sense nothing but the agony. It enshrouded him. Nothing else existed. Not the soldiers, not Atsuo, not even Kagome. He himself hardly even existed at all, only as a receptacle for the sharp, never-ending anguish. It felt like his every nerve was on fire, like lightning crackled through his body, like he'd incinerate from the inside out.

Kagome ran to him in desperation, dodging samurai. "INUYASHA! NO!" She threw her arms around him, holding on for dear life. "Inuyasha!" she sobbed. He didn't react, except to take another breath and scream again. She flinched. The light moved so fast around his neck now that it looked like a solid, scarlet necklace. Kagome shrieked with him.

The light and frequency of the chain's vibration died suddenly, instantaneously. Kagome cut off her cry in surprise. Inuyasha sagged in her arms, his final shriek dying away. He panted, eyes closed, face downcast. "Inuyasha! Inuyasha! Are you okay?"

"It's fine," Atsuo answered harshly. "Now get away from it. There's work waiting for all of you. Unless… you want me to do it again?" He gestured grandly with his left arm, clinking the chain he still held. The ring flashed.

"No!" Kagome cried, tightening her hold around Inuyasha.

Atsuo raised an eyebrow. "Come on, girlie. Time's a-tickin'." He slowly, gently stretched his fist toward them again. He growled, "I told you to move away from it."

She stared, and then released Inuyasha. He swayed on his knees and dazedly watched her walk away. Shoved, Miroku and Sango stumbled toward the same archway as Kagome. She paused and looked back at Inuyasha, her long-fingered hand resting elegantly on the doorframe. Then she stepped gloomily over the threshold and into the darkness.

Atsuo sent a mild pulse down the collar. The half-dog flinched and flattened its ears, glaring. "Go on. You're not getting out of the work this time." He offered the shining metal to a high officer standing behind and to his left. He took it, and dragged the slave off in the same direction as the other new troublesome acquisitions. But then, new slaves were always taxing. Lord Atsuo sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Wow, this chapter is long. I guess that makes up for the short one that I posted in another story today...

**Chapter 9**

Miroku staggered under the weight of a large stone. He dropped it next to the unfinished wall. He plopped down on it, huffing and panting. Wiped sweat off his face, he eyed Sango's delicious form as she drifted among the slaves, offering water. Younglings and other women were performing the same service. Kagome looked attractive, too, as she headed toward him with a bucket. Not that he could make a move on her…. Inuyasha would kill him. Too bad. It was almost worth it. Almost.

"Hey, Miroku. Here." Kagome scooped a large spoon into her bucket and handed it to him. She hopped onto the half-wall. "How's it going over here?"

He grunted around a mouthful of water. He swallowed and said, "They're trying to kill me, I swear." He shook his head, gazing disconsolately into the distance. Then he dipped the spoon and guzzled some more.

Kagome waited patiently, watching, slightly awed, as Miroku gulped spoonful after spoonful. She looked away after awhile and caught sight of Inuyasha. He lifted a huge boulder, carried, and dropped it next to a field filled with them. _I wondered why I kept hearing some sort of boom, _she thought. The slaves who were supposed to be chipping the boulders apart for wall material gaped and glared as he easily delivered tons of material. There was way too much for even that number of slaves to handle. Every once in awhile, he paused to help, taking a sledgehammer and pummeling them quickly into smaller stones. He was merely breathing a little hard, instead of getting a hernia or tearing muscle from bone.

"Wow," Kagome said, drawing out the vowel.

Miroku asked, "What?"

"Look!" She pointed. "I know we've hung out together for a long time, but sometimes…. Wow. Look at Inuyasha go!"

Miroku didn't look. "Yeah. I know. I already saw."

"But isn't that amazing?"

"I guess. But he's a half-demon. It goes with the territory."

She deflated. "Yeah. But still, no matter how many times I see it, I marvel. Just amazing."

Miroku wished Kagome and Inuyasha would just admit to how much they liked each other. It was so obvious. He doubted Sango was still amazed about Inuyasha. He certainly wasn't. Their denial was getting on his nerves.

He perked up. Sango! She's coming over here! He knew she wouldn't be able to resist for long. He struck a nonchalant pose.

"Oh, hi, Sango. Didn't see you there," he said suggestively.

She raised her eyebrows and halted. "Miroku?"

"Sango?" he asked sweetly.

She scowled and set down her bucket at his feet. "Cut it out, Miroku. You're such a womanizer."

Kagome cut Miroku's objection off. "What's up, Sango?"

"Up? I don't… Oh, this must be more of your 'slang,' isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kagome said, taken aback momentarily. She explained, "I meant, 'what's been happening with you?' "

"Oh. Really? That's strange…." She leaned against the wall beside Miroku. "Well, I'm worried about Kirara and Shippo. They were taken off to some other cell before we were dragged in front of Atsuo, remember? I didn't like the sounds of it."

"No," agreed Miroku, suddenly solemn.

Sango cried abruptly, "Miroku!"

He flinched and cautiously asked, "What?"

She lowered her voice. "Your Wind Tunnel! Why haven't you used it yet?"

"Oh, that." He relaxed and whispered back, "It's only a surprise once. I've been saving it for the best opportunity. For all I know, they'd find something to cut me off from it, like they did to Inuyasha. Besides, it's not like I should suck up _humans, _not even corrupt ones."

"Hey, you!" yelled a guard. "Get back to work!"

Kagome jumped. Those guards were everywhere! Armed to the teeth, too. They were floating amongst the slaves, with absolutely no inhibitions about doling out punishment. She'd better get going.

The guard marched toward them. "You heard me! Get working!" They moved, but too slowly. Hmm. Perfect excuse. He was really dying to try this thing out, anyway. They'd been handed out to all the officers, from general down to sergeant. He was very glad he'd just been promoted. He puffed his chest out, showing off his new, shining insignia. He was now important enough to be assigned this. All he needed, really, was the slightest provocation. Lord Atsuo wished to be extremely cautious with these slaves. He didn't want any signs of insubordination whatsoever.

"Too slow!" the guard cried gleefully. He glanced over his shoulder. Here it comes! He could hardly wait.

There was a loud thud and then a male scream. He shivered. Delicious. He paused to savor the sound, letting it roll on and around him.

"Oh, no, you don't!" he said to the three as they tried to rush off. "You don't want to make it worse." He grinned. "This is what happens when you, any of you, disobey in the slightest. Surely this is not a result you want." They stood, trembling, fists clenched. Ah. The delectable taste of power. He knew they'd do whatever he told them to, to avoid this.

Aw. He frowned. The screams were dying away – probably because he was distracted. He increased the flow. There they were! Ooh, really loud, too. Nice. Just listen to that pleasant, unusual, deep voice crying out. Any voice was good, but this one – he doubted he'd ever get bored of hearing it scream. He grinned wider, delighted at the prospect of many long years ahead in which to exact punishment. And look at its friends – so worried and subdued. "Get back to work!" Ha! Appetizing, the power. Look at them scurry to do his bidding. This new rank suited him just fine.

"Hey!" Inuyasha called hoarsely. "Are you too weak to fight me? Have to resort to some pathetic ring?" He gripped the boulder's rough surface and staggered upright, pushing off from it. He was hunched over with the pain, but he was no longer screaming – by sheer force of will.

The sergeant turned menacingly. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," Inuyasha croaked. He forced himself erect. "You're too weak to fight me, sissy. Yellow-bellied crybaby!"

"Argh! Insolent half-breed!" He unsheathed his sword.

Inuyasha lifted his right hand and cracked his fingers. "Come and get me, mama's boy."

The man let out a battle cry and ran for Inuyasha. The pair stood in a stunned sea of silence and watching eyes. Inuyasha eagerly awaited him. Finally! A battle! This he could deal with – a clear opponent using obvious tactics. He couldn't fight the chain, though, and this angered him to his core.

"Stand down, soldier!"

The man faltered, glanced back, and then franticly obeyed. He stepped aside and saluted. "Lieutenant Colonel!" He was a statue as his superior walked closer.

Inuyasha smirked. The pain had faded away as soon as the soldier lost focus on it. And now a senior officer was approaching his fate at Inuyasha's hands. A real battle….

The lieutenant colonel stopped in front of the sergeant. He flashed his scarlet ring. "Join me."

"Yes, sir!"

Together, they sent their thoughts to the rings. Inuyasha jolted, fell forward, and shrieked once. It faded away. He convulsed silently, his face hidden.

"Inuyasha!" his friends bellowed helplessly.

He looked their way. Tears were flowing down his cheeks. Suddenly, they heard… his laughter? He roared with it. He rolled onto his back, lying uncaringly on the chain. He held his stomach and laughed fit to burst.

The samurai looked at each other in shock and disbelief. Inuyasha's guffaws lessened. Narrowing their eyes, they put more effort into it. Inuyasha laughed hysterically. He gasped mouthfuls of air and howled.

Miroku, Sango, and Kagome exchanged surprised, relieved, puzzled looks.

"You filthy half-breed!" cried the sergeant. He snatched Inuyasha's robes and shoved his face centimeters from his. "What is the meaning of this?" Inuyasha giggled at him. "Ugh!" He heaved him back to the ground.

"Apparently," said the lieutenant colonel calmly, "the rings only work one at a time."

"What!" the sergeant yelled, and then cringed.

The lieutenant colonel ignored his outburst. "There was, after all, no method of testing these. I'm not surprised they're imperfect. Now, step aside."

"Yes, sir!"

Inuyasha's laughter ceased when the leash jerked taut. The half-dog-demon's eyebrows snapped together. Just before he unleashed his claws on the colonel, the pain flooded over him. He flinched, tension freezing his muscles. He was dragged back to the field of boulders and released.

"Get back to work." The samurai turned and walked away. _Lord Atsuo will wish to know about this_, he thought.

Inuyasha sat up and growled at his retreating back. "ARGH!" He lunged. He grunted when his slack abruptly ran out. He whirled on three soldiers franticly staking down his chain. Inuyasha slashed at them, but they ran out of reach. He swore and yanked on the metal, jerking it easily out of the earth. He coiled the leash in his left hand and sprinted impossibly fast after them. They glanced back and cried out in terror. The other slaves cheered.

"Oh, no, you don't!" The sergeant unleashed his new power-ring.

Inuyasha halted. He threw his head back, clenching his teeth together to prevent his scream from getting loose. He turned, trembling, to the soldier. He saw that beyond the man Miroku, Kagome, and Sango were clashing with other samurai. They worked their way toward him.

The man looked frightened at Inuyasha's self-control briefly, but quickly recovered his anger and self-righteousness. "Mangy dog! I will not have insubordination here!" He increased the stream.

Inuyasha struggled to advance toward him, but fell to his knees halfway. He gave in and cut through the cacophony of slave versus master with his shriek. He only allowed himself one cry. Then he prowled on all fours, flattening his ears and snarling savagely. The sergeant stepped back once, but then held his ground. He focused as hard as he could on sending through the red ring.

Inuyasha screamed again and passed out.

The sergeant grunted when Kagome's bucket slammed into the side of his head. He fell, dripping wet and unconscious. Miroku and Sango reached her side as she dropped it in shock. She shook away unnecessary guilt, and knelt by Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha!" She jostled him, ignoring the ongoing battle around her. All of the slaves impulsively rose up and joined together to battle the soldiers. They were suffering severe casualties, but they still greatly outnumbered the samurai. "Wake up, Inuyasha! We've got to go! Come on!"

She shook him again. "There's no time! Wake up!"

His ears flicked. He opened his eyes and blinked bemusedly. "Kagome?"

"Come on, Inuyasha, get up! We have to get out of here!" Sango grabbed his left arm and helped Kagome hoist him up.

He moaned, pulling his hand out of Sango's grip to clutch his head. He swayed like a tree in a high wind.

Miroku goaded, "Come on, Inuyasha. We've no time for your weaknesses."

Inuyasha glared at him and forced himself straight. "I am not weak!"

Miroku raised his eyebrows. "It doesn't look that way from here."

Inuyasha growled and pushed away from Kagome to stand alone. "I AM NOT WEAK!" he yelled, fists at his sides.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, you're not weak," Miroku placated. _Good. We need him up and willing to fight. Now, if he doesn't kill me, we can get going._

Inuyasha scowled. Miroku had given in way too easily. He felt tricked.

Sango winked at Miroku and rolled her eyes. Inuyasha didn't notice.

"Jeez," he said, looking around. "We're in a war zone." After a moment, he grinned.

Kagome cried, "Inuyasha! Let's go!"

"All right, all right. I'm coming." He set out, but stumbled over his long leash. "ARGH! I HATE THIS THING!" He exploded. Gripping the metal curled around his neck, he tugged and ripped at it with all his strength. Gritting his teeth, bulging his biceps, he struggled and fought, but to no avail.

"Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome said more quietly.

They quickly embarked on their own quest toward the rest of the castle compound, avoiding the packets of violence as much as possible. Occasionally, Inuyasha was forced to engage in battle. He swiftly dispatched the soldiers, knocking them out, and they continued on their way.

"First things first," Miroku said matter-of-factly. "We need to find Shippo and Kirara."

"Agreed," replied Sango. "Let's head back, much as the thought pains me, to Atsuo's place. That's where we saw them last. Inuyasha, you'll track their scent from there, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

Kagome scolded, "Inuyasha!"

"What?" he asked, oblivious. "I said I'd track them."

"Don't you two ever stop arguing?" Miroku burst out. "Now really isn't the time."

They folded their arms petulantly. Sticking their noses in the air as they walked, they refused to look at each other.

Sango muttered, "Such children." Louder, she said, "Does anyone even remember how to get back?"

Everyone gave blank looks. Inuyasha sighed and grumbled, "Do I have to do everything?" He went to all fours and sniffed the ground for their scent. He slowly spread outward in a widening circle. "Guard my back."

"Right," replied Sango. She took up a katana from beside a nearby, unconscious soldier. "Here, Miroku." She handed him a staff stolen from another. "Sorry, Kagome. I don't see any bows or arrows."

"Well, that's okay. I'm sure we can find some later."

"Humph," Inuyasha muttered to himself. A moment later, he cried, "Ah-ha! Found it!"

"That's great, Inuyasha! Let's hurry up and follow it!" said Kagome.

"No, duh," he said quietly. He stood up and pointed. "If we went straight, then we came from that alley." He marched off toward it.

"But isn't that guesswork?" asked Sango, trailing behind him.

"No."

She waited. When he didn't add anything more, she said, "Why not?"

He explained as to a half-wit, "Now that I've found it, I can follow the scent of my blood from up here."

"Your blood!" cried Kagome. "What do you mean, your blood?"

He cringed. He probably shouldn't have said that. "Well," he said slowly, not looking at her, "even I don't heal that quickly."

"Well, are you okay? Shouldn't your bleeding have stopped by then?" she demanded.

He muttered, "Yeah."

"Then how can you smell it?" Her voice was getting frantic and higher in pitch.

"Umm… my clothes… soaked it up?" he ventured. He wasn't about to tell her that they reopened. She'd freak to high heaven.

"See, Kagome?" said Miroku, eyeing Inuyasha. "No big deal. You can calm down."

"Right. Calm." She took a deep breath. "Got to find Kirara and Shippo."

She was interrupted with, "Halt, slaves!"

The quad jumped and whirled. They tensed, ready to face off with the dozen or so samurai confronting them. The leader, upon seeing their faces, hollered, "It's the half-demon! Over here, men!" Two squadrons broke off from the approaching army that had been dispatched to take care of the rebellion. Suddenly, the slaves no longer outnumbered the soldiers. Several gave in right then and there at the sight of the angry samurai. They knelt and laid down their weapons. The rest yelled and brandished rocks, sledgehammers, tools, or stolen blades. The four, enthralled, watched as the two groups clashed head-on, metal clanging loudly on stone and on steel.

Then they tore their eyes away to deal with the immediate, looming threat.

"Get behind me, Kagome!" yelled Inuyasha. He crouched and readied his claws. Miroku tensed and held his staff across his body. Sango lifted the tip of her stolen katana.

"No, you don't, you dirty half-breed!" yelled the sergeant who'd peeled off with the squadrons. His ruby-red ring glinted in the afternoon sun.

Inuyasha widened his eyes, grunted, and folded over. He gritted his teeth to hold in the scream. His legs quivered, and then crumpled underneath him. His knees hit the ground with a thud. He caught himself with a hand before he fell on his face.

Kagome gasped. "Inuyasha!" She grasped his shoulders. "Sango! Miroku! Take out the soldier with the ring!"

"We can't!" panted Miroku. He blocked a high strike, twirled his staff, and knocked his opponent over the head. The man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. "There are too many of them!" He twisted to face another soldier.

Sango sliced one man's weapon hand off. His scream joined the raucous, discordant harmony of battle. She turned to the left, and parried a blow that would have cut her across the ribs. "Find a bow!" she suggested.

"Good idea!" cried Kagome. She left Inuyasha and searched desperately through the frenzy for a bow and arrows. There! A man, dressed in the robes of a monk and standing toward the rear, was nocking an arrow.

Alarm spread her eyes wide. "Inuyasha!" yelled Kagome helplessly. She jerked back to the archer. The tension left the string, and the arrow slipped out of his hand toward her. The scarlet feathers fluttered gently in flight. The string twanged and vibrated into silence. All sound and color bleached out, except for red, deep and primal. Her own anxious cry was inaudible.

Inuyasha's head lifted. Instantly, he grasped her plight. Staggering upright, he ran as he had never, ever run before. She stood frozen, staring, yet suddenly, his rapidly moving body blocked her view of the monk. His arms wrapped around her, his body tensing for the blow.

The last few seconds of flight stretched into forever for Kagome. Horror dawned. His crimson, exposed back seemed to beckon to the scarlet fletching of the arrow. His dripping blood seemed to draw it ever closer. Red called sweetly to red. It could not resist the alluring summons. It could not miss.

Dappled sunlight brushed the arrow's feathers. Inuyasha's white hair lit brightly. His blood glistened. Excruciatingly slowly, the arrow began to glow gently, weakly and approached closer and closer.

Then she saw, centimeters below her eyes, the cloth of Inuyasha's robe indent and tear. She helplessly watched the arrowhead bury itself in his flesh. He jerked in slow motion. The ends of his white hair lifted gently. He slipped down her body to his knees. His long hair floated for eternity. His crimson robes rustled as his body slowly crumpled sideways. His hair fell, obscuring the brilliantly scarlet, sunlit, glowing arrow.

Kagome heard the echo of her cry, the clang of metal, the rush of wind slowly return to her ears. Color heralded her eyes – yellow sunlight, brown dirt, dull uniforms and livery. Shining silver steel clanged and cut mercilessly.

There was only one blade she was concerned with. It jutted from Inuyasha's left, upper back. Its scarlet feathers mocked her.

Miroku whirled his staff up to thwart a potentially debilitating slash. The wooden staff dented again under the blade. It was covered with marks and threatened to embed splinters in his hands.

Sango dripped with perspiration. Her sword hilt slid in her hands. All the repeated blows had traveled up her arms and nestled dully in the nerves. She glanced quickly in surprise when she heard a bowstring twang again.

The archer-monk staggered under the strike. He gazed at Kagome in shock. He fell back and writhed in pain, his hands empty. She swiftly wriggled out the quiver lodged underneath him. Throwing it over her shoulder, she drew an arrow and sent it thudding into the sergeant's thigh. He collapsed with an angry, pain-filled cry. Tears blurred her vision. She ran back to Inuyasha and dropped the bow at his side.

"INUYASHA!" she bawled. "Please be okay! Speak to me!" She fisted her hands in his sleeve. "Wake up! Oh, please wake up, Inuyasha!" She gathered him into her arms and rocked his unresponsive body back and forth. "You shouldn't have done that!"

A samurai gripped her shoulder in a vice. She whipped her head around, tears flying, her face a twisted visage of deep anxiety and rage. She snatched her bow and struck him hard across the face. He fell. She stood and shot him point-blank through the shoulder. Kagome screamed with fury and felled the remaining soldiers, seriously wounding one after another. She then threw the bow on the ground and took Inuyasha into her arms again.

Sango and Miroku looked at each other. They were surprised and slightly intimidated but rushed to her side anyway.

"How is he?" asked Sango, sticking the bare katana through her belt.

Kagome just shook her head. Salty tears trailed down her face.

"Come on, Kagome. We need to get somewhere safer to tend to him. Did you hear me?" Sango rested her hand on her forearm. Kagome flinched and reached for her bow. Then she relaxed.

"Okay," she whispered.

"I'll get his legs," said Miroku, laying his stolen staff down the length of Inuyasha's body for ease of carrying. "You two get his shoulders, like last time. Don't let the arrow drag on the ground."

They lifted him. Sango scooped up the chain.

Miroku looked around and pointed with his chin. "It should be pretty safe there." They hurried off toward the building-in-progress.

"Okay, put him here," Miroku directed. They lowered him. Kagome propped him up against her right side, throwing an arm around his waist. His head lolled.

Miroku looked a little alarmed when he got a closer look at the embedded projectile. "The arrow's glowing with a sacred light!" He shared an anxious glance with Sango and Kagome, whispering to himself, "That's how it pierced his robe." Sharp guilt pierced Kagome. Miroku shook his head. "Let's just get his shirt off and see what we can do," he said briskly.

Together, they gently removed the blood-soaked fabric, slipping it over the arrow. He stirred when they accidentally bumped the shaft. He moaned and lifted his head wearily. He coughed and squinted at them through the indoor dimness.

"Inuyasha!" said Kagome. "You're awake! Oh, thank goodness!"

"Yeah, yeah." He weakly fended her off. "So I'm awake." He coughed again and wiped his mouth as he drew his trembling hand away. He could feel the arrow's spiritual purification penetrating his half-demon veins. It felt like an acidic poison. As long as Kagome was okay, though, he didn't care.

Kagome whispered to him, "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to do that."

Inuyasha grunted, "'S fine."

Her face clearly didn't believe him. She bit her lip.

"Okay," spoke Miroku matter-of-factly, "we need to get this arrow out now. It's not too terribly deep. Are you ready, Inuyasha?"

"Yes! God, just take it out already!" he groaned desperately.

"Wait!" cried Kagome. "Won't that make him bleed a lot more? And… make a bigger hole?" She tightly clasped Inuyasha's suikan and blinked away tears.

Miroku tried to hold onto his patience as he reassured her, "I noticed that guards here use rounded arrowheads. It shouldn't do a lot of extra damage. And Sango will put pressure on it right away. Right, Sango?"

"Right," she nodded.

Kagome sniffled, "But – "

Miroku interrupted in frustration, "Kagome, its purification is hurting him!"

She nodded and said quietly, "You're right."

"Ready, Inuyasha?" Miroku grasped the arrow at its base. It was lodged between the shoulder blade, spine and ribs. He was faintly surprised it hadn't hit any of them.

Inuyasha could feel it shift in his body when Miroku took hold. The pain was exquisite. He clenched his teeth and nodded. "Yes! Pull it out!" Miroku tightened his hold and yanked it out with a grunt. Inuyasha jolted, eyes flashing wide. He struggled to hold in his choked cry, squeezing shut his eyes. Then he hunched over and coughed wetly. Blood trickled down his chin. He could feel more of the warm liquid flowing down his back. Still, he felt many times better with the arrow out.

"He's coughing up blood! Hurry, Sango!" cried Kagome.

"I am!"

Inuyasha felt the brush of cloth, and then pressure and increased pain. He groaned. He fisted his hands, feeling the distant, nearly imperceptible sting from his relatively uninjured left.

"Sorry, Inuyasha," Sango apologized. "But we need to get your bleeding stopped! Could someone wipe this up?" she asked franticly.

Inuyasha coughed a bit more and cleared his throat. When he took his hand away from his mouth, it was sprayed with blood. That terrible, pain-inducing arrow was still next to him. He twisted around, ignoring the agony, snatched it up and tossed it away from him desperately. It bounced twice, flinging drops of his blood all over the walls.

Kagome cried, "Inuyasha! What was that about?" Inuyasha merely shook his head. She locked worried gazes with Miroku as he resumed mopping up Inuyasha's back. Anxiously, she asked, "Are you… breathing okay?" She bit her lower lip.

He wiped his hand on the ground and nodded without looking at her. His voice was rough. "Feh. This is nothing." Now that that arrow was gone, anyway.

"Really, Inuyasha?" she queried. She turned his head toward her. "I feel terrible. You took that arrow for me."

He made eye contact and raised an eyebrow. His face spoke volumes.

Miroku remarked after a moment of silence, "If we keep needing bandages like this, my kimono will soon be as short as Kagome's!"

Kagome smiled in spite of herself. She wore a mini-skirt. She asked, "Really, how are you holding up, Inuyasha?"

"For the last time," Inuyasha croaked, "don't ask me that. It's stupid."

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm fine. Jeez."

"You're not even close to fine, Inuyasha," said Sango. "Miroku, this one's totally soaked through. Tear me off another piece."

"Look at how much trouble you are, Inuyasha," Miroku grumbled. "Stop getting hurt so much, okay? I do want to have some clothes left."

"Oh, ha, ha," he muttered. Sango switched cloths and reapplied the pressure. He flinched. "Are you done, yet?"

"No," said Sango. Then she asked, "Is anyone else injured?"

Miroku raised a hand. "I have a few cuts."

"Yeah. I have some myself. Here, Inuyasha, can you sit up by yourself?"

He snorted. "Of course!"

"Good. Kagome, put pressure on this." She shifted to make room for her. "I'll dress your wounds, Miroku. Tear off some more."

Miroku sighed and complied.

Soon, everyone was bandaged up and ready to go. Well, almost. Inuyasha struggled to stand, trailing and clinking his omnipresent chain.

Kagome asked for the umpteenth time, "Are you really sure you're okay, Inuyasha? It must have hurt pretty bad."

"I'M FINE!"

Miroku mocked, "Okay, Inuyasha. Whatever you say." He picked his battered and bloodied staff up from the ground.

"Shut up! You're lucky I can't reach you right now!" He propped his right hand on the wall for support.

Kagome frowned. "Give me your arm, Inuyasha." She extended her hands.

He recoiled, making his claws screech on the wall and his chain jangle. "No! I'm fine on my own."

"Inuyasha, let me help! It's my fault you're hurt!"

"I don't need your help!"

"Yes, you do! Now, give me your arm!"

Sango interjected, "Just give her your arm. We don't have time to be arguing."

He glared at her but allowed Kagome to reach for him. He cringed when she lifted his left arm to sling over her shoulders. "The other one!" he gasped.

She gasped, too. "I'm so sorry! I should have realized. That was really, unbelievably, just so totally, incredibly stupid. Do you forgive me? Are you okay?" She scurried over to his right side as she spoke.

He let her scoot under his arm and muttered, "Oh, shut up, Kagome." They staggered off together, Inuyasha leaning rather heavily on Kagome. He was still experiencing the remnants of the spiritual toxin. She had some difficulty with holding up the both of them and walking straight at the same time. He tripped over the chain and cursed darkly under his breath.

"Don't swear, Inuyasha," she reproved. Gathering it up, she coiled it loosely and hung it about his neck. He glared at her. "What?" she asked innocently.

He grumbled to himself and looked away.

Sango said, "Okay, Inuyasha. Can you find our path?"

He sighed.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, you can, or yeah, you heard me say your name?"

"Yeah, I can."

"Good."

He pointed with his chin. "It's that way." A blood trail traced their route into the building.

"Very good, Inuyasha," said Miroku. He clapped softly. "That was quite astute."

Inuyasha threatened, "Miroku!"

"What?" he coyly said. Then he backpedaled. "Hey! What was that for? It worked for Kagome, didn't it?"

"Come on, Miroku, don't taunt him," Sango intercepted. "We really need to find Kirara and Shippo!"

"I know that!"

"So let Inuyasha do his thing."

Inuyasha said, "'Inuyasha' doesn't need to 'do his thing' right now." He clenched a fist. "And I'll always be ready for a fight!"

Kagome jostled him gently. "Stop it!"

He huffed.

* * *

Struggling to avoid the continuing skirmishes of the slave rebellion, they traveled stealthily among the buildings of the compound. They were forced to walk at a slow pace for Inuyasha's sake. He also needed to pause once in awhile to sniff the air, particularly at intersections. Once or twice, he was forced to lower himself gingerly to the ground to find their route. Then Kagome helped him back up and they continued. A few times they hid in doorways or alleys to let a platoon march past.

"There's Atsuo's house," said Sango as she pointed. "Getting in without notice is going to be the hard part." Several guards were stationed at the immense, ornate front door.

Inuyasha scoffed. "So what?"

Sango didn't reply or look at him.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go." He swung his arm off Kagome's shoulder. Without letting him see, Kagome let her face show disappointment. She'd enjoyed the excuse to be close to him. And he'd saved her again; it was nice that she could help him, even if it was just this once.

Inuyasha lifted the chain over his head and held it, coiled, in his right hand, as he set off toward the building. Miroku caught Inuyasha's left forearm, though, before he could leave the alley. "Let's find a back door."

Inuyasha sighed. "Fine. But I can't help you with that."

"Really?" asked Kagome, looking up at him. "Wouldn't a servants' entrance smell different? With like, food, or trash, or something like that?"

He made a face. "I suppose."

"What, don't you like those smells?" She smiled and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

He muttered, "Let's just go, already."

So they proceeded to sneak around the building in search of a more unobtrusive entrance. They found one at the back, unguarded and of plain, rough wood. They crept up to it, looking both ways for any soldiers, and entered silently, finding themselves in a dimly lit, gloomy hallway. They wandered along its wooden floor, opening doors that led to simple, utilitarian quarters. They encountered no one. Turning a corner, they finally found a stair leading down. Not a single footstep or scrape reached their ears.

"Can you smell them yet?" whispered Sango.

Inuyasha nodded. The scent was strong – not that of someone who'd left hours ago. "They're still here."

Their eyes lit up. They were close! This cut their rescue mission in half. They didn't need to risk another trip through the compound to find them. Miroku and Sango fell back into step behind Kagome and Inuyasha. The corridor was sufficiently wide for two to walk abreast. They all paused at the bottom of the steps. Kagome looked around for guards (which Inuyasha knew was unnecessary); he sniffed the air and turned left.

His bare feet were silent on the stone floor. The others' sandals made a small scraping noise that they silenced hurriedly. The group swept past rows of cells, all similar to the one they'd been encaged in. They turned left again and saw yet more cells, though these were smaller and farther apart. They also looked more secure, with thick, solid metal doors and strong locks.

Inuyasha followed the scent to a door halfway down the hall. "It's this one," he said.

Sango called incautiously, "Shippo! Kirara! Can you hear us?"

Inuyasha flicked his left ear toward the door in front of him, the other to the right to listen down the hall. Miroku and Kagome speedily shushed Sango.

Silence echoed down the stone walls.

After a moment, Inuyasha whispered, "It's okay. No one's coming."

Miroku asked quietly, "Did you hear Kirara and Shippo?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Yep."

"I didn't hear a thing," Kagome said, surprised and slightly dejected.

"You're a human. Of course you didn't hear anything," replied Inuyasha. "Now, how do we get them out?"

Miroku asked, "Can't you just bust it open?" He wiggled his eyebrows in teasing.

Inuyasha didn't grasp the joke. He shrugged. "I could try." He transferred the chain to his left hand.

Kagome protested, "Inuyasha, you're wounded! Now isn't the time to be macho! You could reopen your injuries!"

He looked at her blankly. "What's macho?"

She waved it away. "It doesn't matter. That's not my point. You could hurt yourself! We can find another way!"

Sango motioned anxiously at her to lower her voice.

Miroku said softly, "You don't have to do this. I was just teasing."

Inuyasha ignored Miroku's comment and Kagome's ongoing, whispered tirade. He murmured, "Here goes." He put his back against the wall opposite the door and rushed at it, ramming his right shoulder into the metal. He succeeded in making a large dent and a loud thud, along with a shrill metallic jangle from the chain. He rebounded, winced, and tried to comfort the arrow wound, even though he couldn't reach it.

"Inuyasha!" scolded Kagome. "Didn't I tell you it was a bad idea?"

Sango, on the other hand, looked hopeful. "Wow, Inuyasha! I bet if you could do that a couple more times, it really would break open." She clasped her hands together, somehow simultaneously wringing them, pleading, and expressing pleasure with them.

Miroku said, "Yeah, if the sound doesn't alert anyone."

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't hear anyone at all." He lowered his hand from his shoulder. "I don't even think any guards are in this building." He looked back at the door and nodded to himself. "I can handle a couple more."

"No!" cried Kagome instinctively.

"Well, if you have a better idea, I'm listening!" he said.

She fell silent and dropped her hands helplessly at her sides.

"That's what I thought," Inuyasha said. He backed up and rammed the door again. It dented even further, bending around the huge, powerful lock. His face tightened almost imperceptibly. He repeated the action. There was now a gap around the corners of the door; the humans could hear Shippo and Kirara calling from within. Inuyasha didn't give them a chance to answer, but threw himself at the door once more.

He bounced back into the center of the corridor. His head hung as he panted. Sickly sweat ran down Inuyasha's face. His right shoulder ached deeply, as did his wound. Just one or two more hits, though, would open the door.

"You okay, Inuyasha? You're almost there!" No reply. Then Sango called through, "Get out of the way! Inuyasha will open the door!"

He lifted his head and took a deep breath. He braced his left foot against the wall in a runner's stance, tensed, and shot toward the door. It broke open with a thunderous boom, bouncing off the wall within. Inuyasha's momentum carried him into the stone surface opposite the door. He slid to the ground.

Shippo and Kirara had scurried out of the way, yet now they ventured out. Sango scooped up Kirara with joy, hugging her close. Miroku crouched next to Shippo and inquired on how he and Kirara had fared. Kagome offered concern and sympathy to Inuyasha.

"There's no time," he said, shaking his head. "Someone's coming." His hand was back on his left shoulder.

"What!" hissed Miroku. "I thought you said there wasn't anyone here."

"Well, obviously, I was wrong." Inuyasha struggled to his feet and picked up the chain again.

As they all rushed out, Sango thanked Inuyasha. "And I'm sorry you're hurt because of it."

Embarrassed, he muttered, "Forget it."

"Where are we going?" asked Shippo from his perch on Miroku's shoulder.

"Away," said Sango. Kirara meowed with agreement in her arms.

Their feet pounded up the stairs and down the hall. Their clothes rustled and billowed. Running footsteps, shouts, and the clanking of weapons approached, growing louder. Miroku yelled, "Hurry!" He glanced back, but saw no one.

They burst out into the late afternoon sunshine, dashing madly for the nearest shadowed alleyway. They dived into it, panting, just in time to be enfolded safely in its arms. Several samurai had just exploded angrily into the light, temporarily blinded. Pursued and pursuers were all blinking furiously, desperate to get their eyes to adjust. The soldiers spread out and hunted for the escapees. The troupe of friends edged slowly deeper into the shadows, wary of alerting them with a sudden movement. Eventually, they crept around the side of the building and ran.

Reaching relative safety at last, the six stopped in another dark alley. Breathing hard, they bent over, hands on knees. Inuyasha dropped the collar/leash on the ground. Kirara and Shippo jumped down and waited for their friends to catch their breath.

Shippo asked, "So, what do we do now?"

"We need… to find our weapons," gasped Sango.

Miroku nodded. "Agreed…. We can't leave without them…, especially Tetsusaiga. You get hurt… too much without it, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha growled wordlessly at him.

Said Shippo, "How are we going to find 'em?" He leaned over to stroke Kirara, who purred and arched her back at the contact.

The group sighed in unison at the enormity of their task.

Kagome grudgingly stated, "I hate to suggest this…, but maybe it would be… better if we split up."

"Why do you hate it?" asked Inuyasha.

She gave him a how-can-you-be-so-dense look. "Because then it will be that much harder… to get us all out of here…, and in one piece, at that."

"That may be true…," offered Miroku. "But it would be faster to… search in several groups."

"All right…. I'll go with Inuyasha," said Kagome.

"And I with Miroku." Sango raised her hand.

Miroku crooned, "Ooh, Sango…."

"Don't even think it, monk."

Shippo asked, "What about me? And Kirara, too."

"Well, pipsqueak," Inuyasha sneered, "where do you want to go?"

"Not with you!"

Inuyasha snorted. "Good riddance."

"Hey!" Shippo shook his small fist at him.

"Just ignore him, Shippo," reassured Sango. She redirected her attention. "Kirara, will you go with Kagome and Inuyasha? Then our groups will be even. Unless we want three groups?"

Kirara gazed around at them all, seemed to shrug, and sprang onto Kagome's shoulder.

"Well, that answers that, then, huh?" said Miroku, mostly to himself.

Shippo climbed up onto Sango's shoulder. He stuck his tongue out at Inuyasha, making a rude noise.

"You brat!" cried Inuyasha, angrily striding closer.

"Sit," Kagome said calmly.

Inuyasha slammed face first into the dirt. "Hey!" Didn't she realize that that **hurts? **Just on the inside, usually, but today he was wounded! Besides which, he landed right on that evil chain! What the *$%? Not two seconds ago, she was fussing over him! Not that he enjoyed it, but what in the world changed?

She kneeled, ladylike, next to him. "Come on, Inuyasha. Let's just look for Tetsusaiga. You want it back, don't you?"

He grumbled to himself as he clambered back to his feet. "Feh. Let's go." He fought not to comfort his shoulder.

And so it came to pass that the six friends parted ways.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Lord Atsuo stalked back and forth in front of the subdued slaves. Oh, this stubborn, pesky half-demon! He vowed that even if it took his entire army, he would force it to serve him faithfully. No one, absolutely no one, much less a lowly half-breed, would ever get the better of him, Lord Atsuo!

But first, he needed to deal with this mangy lot. They were lined up in rows, forced to kneel at his feet. Many of them were bloodied; their eyes were all cast downward. Countless armed men surrounded the area, all ready and willing to dole out further punishment if they even so much as twitched wrong.

He'd been required to gather almost all of his men from every decimeter of his castle to put down this rebellion. Revolts had never been an issue until **it **came here. Atsuo pinched the bridge of his nose as he paced. He couldn't focus on these stupid slaves right now. Whenever **it** was found, it would pay dearly. It would learn to never, ever incite a riot again or to disobey him in any way. Damn half-breed!

He planted himself before the slaves and waved tiredly. "Just get them out of my sight. Punish them as you see fit." He paused and added, "Don't kill them. They still need to be able to work."

Oh, what was he thinking? These men need his direction. "Half of you take care of these. The rest of you, hunt down the half-breed and its companions. Bring them before me. Alive." He marched back to his mansion, taking but a few guards with him.

* * *

"So, Sango, where do you suggest we look?" asked Miroku as they traveled away from their friends, moving toward a shaft of light falling between two buildings. His staff made small indentations in the soft dirt. He casually reached over with his left hand to fondle her curvy butt.

Smack! A vivid red handprint appeared on the monk's left cheek. "Don't you touch me, **monk**!"

"Yeah!" Shippo chimed in enthusiastically. "You womanizer!"

Miroku chuckled and suggestively caressed his flaming cheek with the tip of his forefinger.

"Incorrigible," grouched Sango. "I don't care where we look. Maybe over by the barracks?"

Miroku nodded. "That makes sense. Perhaps our weapons would be among the soldiers'."

The party skulked off, winding around and between structures in search of the samurai's quarters. Light from the west threw sharply defined, deep shadows. Currently about a hand span away, the sun edged ever closer to the horizon.

* * *

Watching Miroku, Shippo, and Sango disappear, Kagome mused quietly, "How are we going to find Tetsusaiga?"

Inuyasha snorted. "Don't look at me." He jerked, startling her. Flicking his ears, he sniffed the air. "Soldiers!" he hissed. "Hurry, Kagome!" He grabbed her arm, dragging her along behind him down the alley. Kirara meowed loudly and dug her claws into Kagome's shoulder, making her wince as she ran.

He swore. "There's some here, too!" He slid to a stop a few meters from an intersection; she smacked into his brick wall back. "Damn it! Why didn't I sense them sooner?"

Kagome gasped as a marching platoon of samurai emerged from around the corner. She whirled. "We're surrounded!" Inuyasha backed her up against a wall to their right, and then faced his enemies, brandishing his claws and snarling. Kirara joined him, transforming into a deadly, saber-toothed carnivore. Oh, she was such an idiot! Why hadn't she taken that monk's bow and quiver with her?

A man to the right bellowed over his shoulder, "WE FOUND THEM!" The soldiers from both sides advanced, joined by yet more reinforcements. They flooded into the small passageway, seemingly without end.

Kagome spotted an elaborately dressed officer merging into their midst. "Inuyasha," she whispered to his back. He turned an ear toward her. "To your left – there's a sergeant. I bet he has a ring!"

Inuyasha growled angrily deep within his chest. "Kirara!" he rasped. "Take care of Kagome!" With that, he leapt over the heads of the startled men, landing directly in front of the officer. He slashed, amputating the sergeant's ringed right hand to the sound of his screams. He awkwardly unsheathed his katana with his remaining limb, striking the space Inuyasha had already vacated. Blood gushed from the stump, saturating the earth. He collapsed to knees, gazing around in shock – his men were falling, wounded, all around him.

Kirara's fur bristled as the samurai approached. She grabbed the neck of Kagome's shirt between her teeth and flung the human onto her back. Charging headfirst through the melee, she reached Inuyasha, throwing him on as well. Then she launched herself skyward. Shrieks of pain and anger drifted into the air after them.

The mountainous landscape beneath them slowly darkened as black thunderclouds spread out from the eastern horizon. They swirled and twisted threateningly. Lightning flashed silently in their distant depths.

* * *

Shippo, Miroku, and Sango stopped moving as one. War cries and screams assaulted their ears. Deep animal growls and snarls scored through the cacophony.

Shippo spoke in a horrified whisper, "That's Kagome, Inuyasha, and Kirara!" He clutched Sango's shirt tighter.

"It's okay, Shippo; I'm sure they can handle themselves," reassured Sango shakily.

"Yeah. Inuyasha's with them," said Miroku faux-confidently. "He wouldn't let anything bad happen. But us? We should get out of here!"

Sango exclaimed, "Agreed!" She ran, followed closely by Miroku. Walls flashed by in a blur of sun and shadow. "Stop!" she yelled suddenly as she staggered to a halt. "Soldiers!" She and Miroku dove behind a building.

Shippo swayed back and forth, trying desperately to hold on. He jumped, lying down and grasping fistfuls of dirt. "Ugh, no more!"

Sango and Miroku spared him no attention, on high alert as the soldiers marched past. Adrenaline flooded, pounded through their veins. They stood stiffly erect, watching. Miroku's left lower eyelid twitched repeatedly. Sango's pinkie finger had a tic. As the last samurai swaggered by, they relaxed by degrees.

"Let's go," Sango said, peeking around the corner. Miroku picked Shippo up by the back of his shirt. He cradled the dazed fox kit in the bend of his left arm.

The trio walked a very long time, wandering in unfamiliar, then vaguely recalled, then unfamiliar areas. But at last, they found the barracks. Huddling behind a small, nearby shed, they studied their target. It was a long, two-story structure made of wood. Its pagoda roof sharply curved inward. Simply made, it served its purpose and little more. A few utilitarian windows broke up its monotony. A single entrance was visible from this vantage point. Several torches had been lit against the encroaching darkness and rising wind.

Men flocked to and fro, often emerging in fresh clothes, hair wet and slicked back, helmets in hand. Some yawned and staggered inside to sleep – even at this distance, the incredibly loud snores were audible. Men greeted their comrades familiarly as they walked by, slapping them on the shoulder and making rough remarks, at which the friend would chortle.

"Oh no!" said the revived Shippo. "Look at all those guards! How will we ever get in there?"

Miroku twisted his lips in disgust. "That's a good question."

Sango asked, "Couldn't we just battle them?"

"You've been hanging around Inuyasha for too long." Miroku rolled his eyes. "Though they probably wouldn't expect it."

A voice behind them cried, "Like you didn't expect this?" They pivoted. A young, nervous samurai, helmet- and mask-less, held his wavering katana at the ready. He yelled that there were slaves on the loose, and you men better get over here quick. Trotting over instantly, the soldiers clanked and rattled in their heavy armor.

Sango swiftly drew her sword. "Miroku, take care of the brat!"

"It's done!" he answered, whirling his staff as he stalked toward the boy soldier. His dark, torn robes fluttered in the wind.

"Hey! Don't be so sure of yourself!" the lad exclaimed. Yet his sword trembled more and more as Miroku approached. When he was still a meter or two away, the boy broke, sheathed his weapon, and ran. The monk lowered his staff almost dejectedly and turned back.

Sango and Shippo were engaging the dozen or so samurai. Sango cut, slashed, thrust, and parried expertly. Shippo hollered, "Smashing Top!" The soldiers screamed, pathetically high-pitched, as they were attacked by a massive, spinning, child's toy. Others emerged from the barracks, sleep still filming their eyes. They gaped briefly and then ran back inside, snatching up their maces, halberds, katanas or naginatas _(spear-like weapons)_. Rushing out, their presence bolstered the morale of the panicking men. Then, the gigantic top shrunk rapidly, twirling to a stop at their feet. Tricked, they furiously brandished their weapons, bellowing war cries while they dashed as one.

Joining his comrades, Miroku shouted, "Prepare yourselves!"

Shippo skittered behind his two friends, digging in his shirt for more tricks. _This should work,_ he thought. Then Sango and Miroku clashed with the soldiers above him, sidestepping, twisting, and in general trying to trample him. "Yah!" he cried, scurrying out of the way. "Fox fire!" He threw small green flames at the legs of the soldiers. Panicking, they shrieked, fell to the ground, and rolled. The weak fire sputtered out quickly.

"You stupid demon!" one man exclaimed. Snatching him up by his bushy tail, he drop kicked the little fox. Shippo cried out, sailing over the heads of the combatants. He impacted onto and through the roof, landing in a dazed ball on the second floor of the barracks.

"Shippo!" yelled Miroku and Sango together. They fought harder, whirling, twisting, skirting, striking. "Hang on, Shippo!" Struggling not to kill their opponents, they had some difficulty making permanent progress. Miroku smacked his staff down on a man's hand; his sword flipped into the air. Stepping and thrusting the wood into the man's soft belly, Miroku dispatched another one, if only temporarily.

Sango hissed as a blade skimmed across the ribs on her right side. Blood began to trickle from the thin cut, soaking into her clothes. Turning her head to the right and thrusting her katana straight out from her side, she stabbed through the shoulder the samurai who hurt her. He cried out and went down, sliding off her blade. She gracefully revolved her sword a quarter turn, herself as the center of a circle, to block an attack from behind. Their swords rang. She brought her left hand back onto the hilt and strode to his left side. She lifted her katana as she did so, sliding it alongside his. Then Sango cut down and through his weapon hand, severing it. He joined the screaming wounded on the ground.

Miroku stopped an overhead strike with one of his own, holding his staff in both hands, parallel with the ground. Twisting his pole down and to the left, he flattened his left hand along its length to slide the blade off. He then turned his hand to point with both thumbs in the same direction and brought the cylindrical piece of wood back up. He succeeded in knocking out an inattentive opponent to that side. He then evaded, stepping around with his right foot and pivoting on his left a full 180 degrees. In the same motion, Miroku slid his left hand down to join his right like he held a sword, knocking the first man's sword thrust down. Then he swung his pole to the left, whacking him on the side of his head. Unconsciousness overcame one more enemy.

The two friends continued their smooth, intricate dance, moving ever closer to the barracks. Sustaining only a few small wounds each, their opponents persisted in striking where they'd already left.

Inside, Shippo sat up slowly, shaking his head to remove the haze. He blinked and looked around. Eyes widening, his mouth formed an amazed "wow." Weapons littered the entire length of the single room, which stretched from outside wall to outside wall. Leaning haphazardly against walls or stacked neatly on shelves or hung from ceiling hooks, the tools of war were varied and plentiful. Standing up, Shippo brushed roof debris and dust off his clothes. He wandered the quiet, deserted second floor with curiosity, his satyr-like paws silent on the wood floor.

He craned his neck up to look at some of the swords on higher shelves. Spotting a promising one, Shippo crouched and jumped, landing gently like a cat. This particular katana looked a bit rusty and battered – much like Inuyasha's untransformed Tetsusaiga. This wasn't Tetsusaiga, though; it was just another piece of junk. Disappointed, he wilted and hopped down again.

He continued searching down the aisles. Look! Maybe that was Tetsusaiga! But on Shippo's closer inspection, he discovered that that wasn't it, either. That one? No, the hilt was the wrong color. He sighed. There were so many old swords! He supposed that he'd just have to look at them all. And he shouldn't forget about Miroku's shakujou _(Buddhist staff)_ or Sango's Hiraikotsu.

That was it! Hiraikotsu! Such a large boomerang, a highly unusual weapon, would be much easier to find than a rusty old sword. Shippo charged off with new vivaciousness. He happily sang, "Where, oh, where has Hiraikotsu gone? Where, oh, where could it be?" He dashed down six very long aisles before spotting it. He screeched to a halt.

"I found it! Yes!" Then, in a sing-song, "I found it, I found it!" He pumped his right fist in the air and did a little dance. "I found it! Yeah, that was me! Whoo!" Breathing hard, he faced the shelves again. He gasped. "The others are here, too! Oh, that is awesome!" He lifted the shakujou, but it towered and swayed far over his head. Finally, he lost his balance, and both he and the staff fell backward with a clatter. He stood up and gazed at it in disappointment. He struggled to manhandle it back into its original position.

"Well, at least I found them. I'll just go get Sango and Miroku!" He perked up again. He dashed back to the Shippo-sized hole. Looking around, he jumped up onto successively higher shelves until he was as close as he could get to the ceiling. Then he squatted briefly and leapt straight up, aiming carefully. He flew right through, alighting on the slanted roof. Using his leaf, he transformed into one of most-used forms – a pink, spherical version of himself, with short, spindly limbs poking out. (Being so young, his transformations aren't the best, to say the least.) He floated above the battle, drifting lower and lower. He was buffeted to and fro by the strong wind, fighting to stay in position.

Shippo called, "Miroku, Sango! I found the weapons!"

The few remaining, skittish samurai went to pieces at the sight of Shippo. They fled, screaming about demons and warriors from hell. Sango and Miroku relaxed their stances and lowered their stolen weapons. "Shippo! You're okay!"

He poofed back into his normal self, bouncing and rolling onto the ground. He sat up. "I found them! I found the weapons!"

"Really, Shippo?" asked Sango excitedly, sticking her bloodied blade through her belt. "That's awesome! Way to go! Where are they?"

"In here! In here!" He pointed behind him. "Come on, come on!" He whined, "Hurry up!" He was already pulling the door open.

Miroku laughed lightheartedly and ran after him, staff in hand. Sango chuckled, too, and joined them. They sprinted through the deserted first floor, darted up the stairs, and raced down the aisles of weaponry. They skidded to a panting halt in front of Hiraikotsu, Sango's wakizashi _(short sword)_, Tetsusaiga, Miroku's shakujou, and Kagome's bow and arrows. Sango snatched up Hiraikotsu and hugged it to her, stroking the length of its smooth bone surface. She sighed happily. Miroku took up his staff and shook it, listening to the familiar jingle of the golden, metal rings hooked at the ornamental top.

Shippo looked on proudly as the two reacquainted themselves with their old, trusty weapons. Sango drew her stolen sword and placed it on the shelf. Taking up her old one, she slid it into place at her left side. Then she slung Hiraikotsu on her back, its attached strap diagonal across her torso. Miroku laid down his own confiscation. He also picked up Kagome's things, sliding both the bow and quiver over his left shoulder.

Distant, muffled thunder rolled from the sky.

"You should probably take Tetsusaiga, Sango. You can carry it on your belt," Miroku said.

"Good idea." She did as he suggested, resting it against her own weapon. "Wow, I have a daisho!" _("big and small" set of two samurai swords) _

Shippo chortled. "Yeah, you do! Cool!"

Miroku smirked. "You know Inuyasha would thrash you if you tried to keep it." He paused. "But then, before, when you stole it to save your brother Kohaku, he wasn't very angry…."

Sango rolled her eyes. "I'm not keeping it, silly."

"Right." He smiled at her. Turning to leave, his eyes passed over shelf after shelf of armaments. He halted, cocking his head.

"What is it, Miroku?" asked Sango.

He looked up. "Oh, I was just thinking that this seems a good opportunity to unleash a little something." He raised his right hand, clenching it and rattling his prayer beads. "Since there's no one here… I can strike a blow for our side and take out this arsenal."

"That's a great idea!" Shippo cried, clasping his hands together in delight. "Come on, let's do it!" He scampered toward the staircase.

Once outside, they found that the storm was approaching fast. Thunder boomed through the air, and lightning illuminated the black landscape in flashes. The setting sun had been obscured by cumulonimbus clouds. A drizzle fell. Gusts of wind nearly made the torches sputter out.

Miroku directed Sango and Shippo to stand behind him.

"Wait!" Sango shouted over the noise. She snatched a torch and trotted back, nodding at him.

Miroku unwrapped the beads from his hand and held it out, fingers spread, yelling, "Wind Tunnel!" Instantaneously, a gale formed, sucking everything in its path toward the small hole in the monk's hand. He supported his wrist with his left hand, feet spread, one behind him, and braced himself. The barracks began to break apart. Raindrops and chunks of wood flew into the endless, black hole. Swords, arrows, bedding, armor, and whatnot vanished into his Kaza Ana _(Wind Tunnel). _In short order, the entire building and its contents vanished from the face of the earth.

He fisted his hand, cutting off the destructive power. Expertly, he rewrapped swiftly the beads which held it in check. He rotated, grinning at Shippo and Sango in triumph.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Circling high above the mountain castle, Kirara, Kagome, and Inuyasha were lit by the golden sun to their right. Kagome enwrapped her arms around Inuyasha's muscular, though currently relaxed and soft, abdomen tightly as she spoke, "Where are we headed?" She turned her head and rested her cheek against his right, uninjured shoulder. (The left was healing well.) His long, white hair fluttered and stretched over her like a cape. Relishing this unprecedented chance to be alone with him and have an excuse to hold him close, she listened contentedly to his deep breathing.

"Beats me," he answered pseudo-calmly. The feel of her feminine body molded to his back was highly distracting. Her gentle scent filled his nostrils. He felt his heartbeat speed up and his breathing quicken.

Kagome heard the difference and grinned. But with a sigh, she forced herself to redirect her thoughts to more pertinent matters. "Let's see if we can spot anything from the air. Maybe if we can backtrack to that courtyard…."

Kirara rumbled her agreement, understanding Kagome's train of thought instantly. She tilted into a turn, instigating another circuit above the castle.

"What courtyard?" Inuyasha grouched, disgruntled that he was always the last to understand. The chain, coiled in his lap, began to slide off, and he snatched at it.

"You remember. From when we first arrived and they kicked you out of the wagon?" she said, ignoring his tone.

He narrowed his eyes at the thought. "Yeeesss," he hissed, drawing out the syllables angrily.

She lifted her head. "Well, you could track Tetsusaiga from there, couldn't you? It has your scent all over it, right?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I s'pose." He wasn't about to admit to her that that was a good idea.

She called across his shoulder, "Kirara! Let's look for that courtyard!"

Kirara rumbled again and nodded. She circled lower and they searched for familiar landmarks.

After a few moments, Inuyasha frowned and twisted his right ear to listen harder. "Go that way, Kirara." He pointed north.

"Inuyasha, did you hear something?"

He nodded unhappily. "Yeah. Screams." There were male, female… and children's voices.

Kirara growled, catching the same faint cries. She followed it without any further prompting, and soon Kagome could hear it, too. She tightened her hold on Inuyasha. Shortly, they were hovering above the source.

It was in an unfinished section of the castle. Pole torches were stuck in the barren soil in a rough circle. They flickered in a rising breeze. Soldiers were standing guard around a large, frightened pod of slaves to one side. Stretched between three-meter-tall stakes in two rows opposite were more slaves. They jerked when men cracked whips on their backs. Both groups of chattel screamed and wailed loudly.

"We have to help them!" Kagome cried. Inuyasha nodded, and Kirara roared deafeningly, flicking her flaming tails.

The people below flinched in unison. One man, though, unrecognizable at this height, did not react the same as they. Instead, he looked up and strode purposefully into the center of the circle. He lifted his left fist. Lightning strobed briefly, giving the scene a mid-day shine. Kagome thought that she saw a glint of red.

She shrieked, "NO!" but her voice was lost in the thunderous report. Kirara was already diving rapidly for the earth. Her night vision stolen, Kagome felt Inuyasha shudder against her chest and tightening arms. He groaned, and hunched over. The intensifying wind whipped his hair in her face. Yet, the closer they got, the more he clawed at the chain in desperation. Small, pain-filled noises escaped his lips. About 10 meters from the surface, his frantic struggles dislodged him from Kirara's back and Kagome's arms. He plummeted, slamming onto his back. The air whooshed from his lungs.

Kirara pulled out of the dive and landed hard a small distance away, running a few steps with the momentum. Kagome twisted to look at him and screamed, "Inuyasha!" as soldiers yanked her off the nekomata's back. They dragged her screeching and fighting to the group of slaves. Unnoticeable from the air, a tall, thin, metal fence encaged them. Throwing her roughly inside, they clanged the door shut. She surged up and seized the barricade, shrieking at the top of her lungs. She thrust an arm through the bars, much like the other vassals were doing. She became just one of the many.

More lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. The torches flickered. Roaring, Kirara fought to break free of the countless chains samurai were looping over her. The fur of her back disappeared under the torrent. She roared again, and shrank to her kitten form. She wriggled quickly out from under the heavy links, only to be snatched up. Stuffed into a small crate, her muffled caterwauling was lost in the approaching storm.

Lord Atsuo himself stood over Inuyasha's slack form. A light drizzle began to dampen their clothes. Inuyasha looked up through his bangs, his golden eyes glinting in the firelight. His hair and hitatare billowed, rustling.

"I have been waiting for you," crooned Atsuo. He snapped his fingers. Three men rushed over at once. "Untie these slaves." He gestured at the people lashed to the poles. "Throw them in with the others. Then put this one front and center, where they can all watch." He grinned malevolently, and then twirled a forefinger. "Oh, and use those **special** chains."

He remained standing there, waiting as they followed his directions. He kept up a constant stream of pain flowing through the ring. The half-breed had no chance. Atsuo clasped his hands smugly behind his back. Water droplets wetted his head and shoulders, but no matter. He'd still teach this creature a lesson it would never forget.

At last, they were ready. Bringing forth the shackles, the soldiers began to lock them about the struggling half-demon's wrists. "Wait!" Atsuo yelled, after listening to a message whisper-shouted into his ear. "Take off its clothes, first!" So, it had an enchanted, protective robe from somewhere. The half-dog **must** have stolen it. He wondered who had been the original owner. Besides, it was a good idea anyway to disrobe him. It increased the humiliation.

Inuyasha snarled and slashed at the samurai from his prone position. He jolted involuntarily, gasped, and then glared at Atsuo. So much pain! The smell of ozone and the approaching storm lifted his hackles. He could hear Kagome shouting his name and Kirara's muffled, plaintive meowing. The warriors manhandled his pain-racked body, stripping him. His eyelids fluttered closed with the agony. He had no strength any longer, thieved by the collar and the anguish. He lifted his left arm with all his might, and struggled to claw the soldier. The human pushed his arm back down easily, locking the manacle about his wrist.

He cried out. They'd been blessed! It was no wonder he'd been unable to defend himself. Their mere proximity was sufficient for that. The pure spiritual power leaked into his flaccid body, bringing nausea and more pain than he thought could exist. It crackled over his skin occasionally. Dimly, he felt himself being towed along over the earth dampening into mud. His long hair twisted and pulled under him. His arms were stretched out over his head and hooked onto poles like a "y"; his legs dangled straight down. After his ankles were connected, a long chain tied them similarly to the wooden shafts. His arrow wound twinged, barely noticeable over the agony. His clawed toes just barely skimmed the ground. All his weight hung from his wrists, the sanctified metal slowly leeching his power. Soon, it would cut into his skin. His ears drooped. The sun was gone, and somehow, so was his hope, sucked away by the unending procession of these horrendous days.

The lightning streaked across the sky, followed quickly by thunder. The rain fell, hissing in the torches. Atsuo told his men angrily to put the glass covers on and light more. Did he really have to tell them everything? And that reminded him – he rubbed his temples with the middle finger and thumb of his right hand – so he said, "Forgetting something?"

Cocking his head, one man gazed in puzzlement at his master. Then the light dawned. He dashed a short distance away and retrieved a metal contraption. He approached the drooping figure. Lifting Inuyasha's head by his white hair, he quickly slipped the apparatus on the unsuspecting victim. A helmet-like cage enclosed his head; a protruding, flat strip of metal was forced into his mouth, rather like a bridle's bit, which prevented speech. Inuyasha thrashed and swore (later, grunted), but to no avail.

The man tightened a leather strap at the nape of Inuyasha's neck, and then stepped away. The half-demon writhed, grunting and glaring, jerking his head. His ears! They were pressed, backward, onto his head by the bridle's metal cage; raindrops fell onto the soft, sensitive inner side of his ears. Thankfully, they couldn't fall into the vulnerable, opened canal, for the metal covered it.

Inuyasha glared, humiliated. Most sounds were muffled, but for the amplified drum of the rain on the bridle.

Kagome cried out, for his sake.

Atsuo smiled at Inuyasha in satisfaction. He then turned and gestured respectfully. "Monk Chokichi! Please, come join me!"

A wizened, old man ambled forward from around the slave cage, cane in hand. A young soldier respectfully offered his arm, which the monk took and leaned on. Kagome gasped. She could see his immensely powerful aura. It was huge! The monk slowly picked his way around puddles, finally reaching the side of Lord Atsuo. He released the samurai and waved him off. Placing one hand atop the other on the cane head, he rasped, "Is there something you wish of me, my lord?"

The lord bowed. "Indeed there is, my good Chokichi." He turned his head left and lifted a finger. An officer ceremoniously presented a cat-o-nine-tails to his lord. This weapon, though, actually had many more strips than merely nine. The old monk looked at it and flinched. The wooden handle was wrapped in dark leather. It had brown blemishes on it, perhaps from dried blood. Raindrops beaded on the oiled material. Small metal balls, a single centimeter in diameter, were periodically tied in the leather strips, themselves just centimeters apart. Each cord varied the balls' placement along its length, so that there would be no rows, but rather a random scattering. Each steel sphere had thorny points protruding from it, similar to a mace. They shined brightly, briefly, in the lightning.

Leaving the flogger in the hands of his soldier, Atsuo asked, "Will you bless it?"

Chokichi swallowed bile and shook his head firmly. He raised his rheumy eyes to Atsuo's and said, "No, Atsuo. I will not." He demanded gruffly, "Why would you have such a thing made?"

Atsuo shrugged casually, slightly put out by the rejection. "Does it matter?"

Chokichi blinked rain out of his eyes and thumped his cane. "It most certainly does! Your father would not have approved! And using it at all? Much less outside, in a thunderstorm?" He shook his finger. "If you're not careful, you're going to kill – "

Atsuo's temper flared. "Get out of my sight, you old geezer! I don't need to listen to your scolding anymore! **I** am the lord of this castle!"

Grumbling (in a phony manner) to himself about being glad to get out of the rain, Chokichi hobbled off. He glanced back once at the nude, hanging form, truly sorry that he couldn't help the boy. But he at least had the power to refuse Atsuo's request.

The lord watched him go for a moment, glaring at his stooped back. He turned back to the officer, who was still holding out the flogger. "Go, Sadao. Use it," he commanded.

Sadao grimly smiled in approval and stalked toward Inuyasha, letting the cat-o-nine-tails fall to his side. It glinted and swung as he walked. "NO!" screamed Kagome over the thunder. She sobbed and wailed Inuyasha's name. "No, no! Please, don't! PLEASE!"

Atsuo gave her a quick grin, before turning back around to watch. He called behind him, "Be glad I've mercy enough to spare you the sight of his back!"

Other slaves offered their sympathy, stroking her arms and back comfortingly. She pivoted and flew into the arms of the closest. Weeping on her shoulder, Kagome held onto the woman like a steel trap holds onto the leg of a rabbit. Startled, the woman automatically rubbed Kagome's back in soothing, meaningless circles. Other slaves were comforting their own family members, some of whom had suffered the lash earlier. Lying on their fronts in the mud, heads to the side, the injured men and women fought not to wince as the huge raindrops hit their sore backs. These people understood the pain this strange young woman was experiencing.

The wind had died, allowing the downpour to fall straight to the earth. Huge droplets splashed on the ground. Lightning continued its frantic dance in the clouds, playing darkly with its loud companion and friend. The dim, sputtering torches offered little relief from the wet, pressing night.

Inuyasha's head hung limply. The degrading gag mechanism and nudity made him feel utterly worthless, as intended. The collar no longer gave him pain, but the purifying shackles were efficient at weakening and draining of life. Static electricity sparked. His own weight made his wrists bleed; it mingled with the ice-cold rain, turning pink as it trickled down his arms. He could smell it, too. The arrow wound throbbed distantly. He was cold. He felt someone grab his wet hair, viciously pull it out from under the leather strap, and fling it over his shoulder. He tensed involuntarily. He knew what was coming.

The flogger whistled and cracked on Inuyasha's back. The miniature maces dug into his skin, clinging like burrs. The man ripped them back out. He jerked violently and bit his cheek to keep from making any sound. The taste of copper filled his mouth, mixing unpleasantly with the iron. Crack! The scent of his own blood flooded his nose. It trickled down the planes of his back. Whistle, crack! His claws embedded themselves to the quick in his palms. Crack! His back felt inflamed already. Crack! The little metal spheres dragged numerous thin lines along his flesh as they withdrew. Whistle, crack!

Kagome trembled, unable to take her eyes away from Inuyasha. She flinched each time the terrible whip struck him. Her eyes felt raw from crying so hard. Her sore abdomen trembled with her sobs.

Dully, Inuyasha became aware through the pain of derogatory shouts from the soldiers. He raised his head weakly, then flinched, another blow hammering down on his back. He squinted hopelessly, blinking away water and pushing back useless tears. His ears constantly twitched under the confining metal at the touch of the unending water. A sheet of rain blurred the samurai's images to silhouettes, yet he could read their body language. Slowly, their jeers filtered into his pain-hazed mind.

"…deserve this! Dirty mutt!" Crack! The flogger drew from him more red liquid.

"Half-breed!" Crack! The rain beat an endless tattoo over his wounds.

A tenor – "Sewer rat!" Inuyasha wished his hands were free to cover his ears.

Whistle, crack! "Mangy bastard!" cried a deep voice. Thunder boomed in agreement.

Crack! "Your slut of a mother f*$ed a **demon!**"

And then, "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Kagome's voice broke. Atsuo's encouragement had brought the guards to this. It was all Atsuo. She desperately wanted to get her hands around a bow and arrow and aim it right in his face. "SHUT UP!"

"Ooh, does the little girl want to come out and play?" one crooned. He laughed.

Inuyasha cried out angrily, wordlessly, the first real sound he'd made. His nostrils flared, incapable of giving him enough air in his panic. His mouth parted around the "bit" and he panted. He tugged at his restraints and kicked at the chain dangling from his neck. Lightning crashed, almost drowning out his second screech. He growled low and deep. The guards laughed derisively. He didn't really care what happened to him, but if they hurt Kagome….

The man who'd taunted Kagome approached, swaggering. He looked to his lord briefly, who nodded, saying happily, "Go ahead, Ryuu." Now this man, Atsuo thought, was worth remembering – a man who stood out among all the nameless faces of his men.

Regaining confidence, Ryuu drawled in Inuyasha's face, "Oh, yeah, you filthy cur?" Sadao paused. Rain dripped off Ryuu's nose; he yanked on white hair, pulling the half-dog's angry face close. "You haven't learned anything, have you?"

He turned, yelling, "Go on, men! Get the girl!"

* * *

Shippo struggled to walk through the increasing mud, his little legs almost completely submerged. His hair stuck to his face, his clothes were drenched, and his legs were sore. He gave up and plopped on his back in the mire. "Ugh! Where are they!"

Miroku crouched, his torn robes brushing against Shippo's prone body. "Come on, Shippo, we've got to keep going! Just as soon as we find them, we're leaving. I promise."

Shippo groaned, "This is the longest detour ever! I bet Inuyasha's mad at how much time we lost going after Naraku."

Sango squatted next to the monk and sighed. "I know." She looked up at the black sky momentarily, blinking at the droplets that hit her eyes. The torch sputtered in her hand, nearly extinguished. "Come on, I'll carry you. We've just got to continue. We'll find them. Eventually." Then, to herself, "We have to."

* * *

Kagome fought them, shrieking, kicking, and flailing. They snickered, dragging her along. "Look at her skirt! It's tiny!" They fingered its hem. She screamed louder.

Inuyasha bellowed. He writhed ferociously, jerking at the purifying chains and drawing yet more blood. The spiritual power crackled through him, leeching strength. But that was no excuse, no excuse at all. "NO!" he tried to yell, though only the vowel emerged clearly. He **must** protect her!

Atsuo said nothing, but stood with arms folded, smiling gently. His men knew how he wanted things done. Screw bushido! _(samurai code of honor)_

They shackled the struggling Kagome next to him. His left arm and her right were tied to the same wooden shaft. Her dangling legs hung several centimeters up from the ground. Spitting strands of wet hair out of her mouth, she thrashed and hurled expletives at Atsuo, words Inuyasha hadn't realized she even knew.

The lord waved a hand for his men to continue. Taking up a simple, one-stranded whip that was used earlier for the human slaves, Sadao, still holding the flogger in his other hand, prepared to lash the cringing teenager.

"Don't!" cried Inuyasha, mangling the word. He fought off exhaustion and despair. "Huht me infeab!"

"No, Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, wrenching her head to the right to see him. "You're already hurt – badly!"

"I cam hanel ih! I heal be'er an you oo!"

"Give me that!" cried Ryuu, snatching the flogger. "You obviously haven't been doing your job, you incompetent piece of waste. It wants more!" He pushed Sadao roughly out of his way, and farther from Kagome. "We should oblige."

Inuyasha exhaled shakily. Good. They wouldn't hurt her. For now, anyway. Even this emotion felt almost like too much effort. He wondered vaguely why he felt this way. Then he remembered – the shackles. The cat-o-nine-tails. How could he forget that?

Kagome cried, "NO! Stop it! Don't hurt him anymore!" She struggled, pulling her knees up and kicking, her ankles catching as the chains snapped to and fro. The two soldiers ignored her. Cold rain poured and lightning shot across the sky.

Lifting his eyebrows, Sadao addressed Ryuu caustically, "Yeah? Well, if you can do it better, be my guest." He folded his arms, the whip trailing over his arm and brushing the ground.

Inuyasha hissed quietly as the other man spoke, "Shuh up, Kagome!" Electricity crackled over him, traveling across their restraints and the wet, saturated wood.

She flinched at the static shock. "I won't!" she replied, equally quiet, yet vehement.

"Ha!" Ryuu mocked under his breath, "'Do it better.'" He turned, his breath halting in his chest. "Well, I'll be…."

Inuyasha's back, a red ruin, was completely covered with inflamed lash scores and oozing pockmarks. The downpour tried to wash away the blood, but more kept welling up. It dripped pink drops off his heels.

Inuyasha snorted softly, without emphasis, merely an automatic reaction.

"You bastard!" Inuyasha felt a fist land on the side of his head, between the sparse bars of the bridle. Kagome gasped, biting her lower lip. The voice directed elsewhere, crying over the pounding rain, "Lord Atsuo! Do I have permission to get more tools for this one?" Ryuu smacked Inuyasha on the head again, indicating about whom he was speaking. Gaining an apparent nod, he dropped the flogger and darted away, disappearing rapidly into a shapeless figure.

Sadao untangled his arms, slinking the whip sinisterly across the mud. A gust of wind blew briefly. He cracked the whip suddenly across Kagome's back. She cried out. Inuyasha growled loudly. He could almost smell her pain. Sadao drew his arm back again and tensed.

"Sadao!" called Lord Atsuo impatiently. "Don't waste your energy on that one."

Lowering his arm, he shrugged slightly. "Whatever," he muttered. Inuyasha relaxed, the lack of tension and adrenaline allowing his exhaustion to rush back.

Then the lashing of the half-demon resumed, all the worse for the respite. Whistle, crack! Crack! Whistle, crack! Inuyasha could just barely hear Kagome's hoarse voice shouting at Atsuo and the derisive catcalls begin again. The anguish and the hopelessness swept over his mind once more.

But soon, Ryuu returned. He chuckled maliciously as he drew closer, gesturing with a metal object. "I bet this will teach you." He waved an arm and another guard trotted forward.

The new guard grinned and said, "I'll take that bet."

Gesturing with the iron, Ryuu grinned, too, and replied, "It's done." He turned and said, "Go on; what are you waiting for? Keep whipping him! He and I will try **this**." The grin turned menacing.

Kagome yelled, "No!"

Inuyasha lifted his head wearily, wondering if he should bother at all. Adorning his wrists were long, trailing, scarlet bracelets. The purification crackled over and through his body once in a while, shocking Kagome, too. He felt nauseous, defeated. Suddenly, he felt hands tightly grip his feet. He jerked, fighting reflexively to free himself, but of course he was already manacled.

Ryuu knelt, looking up into his hanging face. "We'll remove that which marks you as a vile half-breed." The golden eyes widened; the struggles increased. Ryuu chuckled, lowering the pliers and taking a claw between their jagged teeth.

"You're evil!" Kagome hollered. "How could you?" She writhed, wishing desperately that she could spare Inuyasha from people like them.

"No!" Inuyasha yelled at Ryuu, sudden adrenaline rushing through his veins. A laugh answered him. Not the claws. Not again! No! Not again! He heard the villagers taunting him in unison with the guards. The memories rang through his mind. Their laughter mingled. He grimaced, grunting, as the man ripped off his claw. He let his head fall, blinking feebly at the bleeding big toe of his left foot. The purification buzzed.

The guards cheered, gathering closer. They taunted him, calling forth the memories.

_He was young, – about six years old – and tied up much the same way as he was now. He hung in the town square, surrounded by the villagers of his home. Battered and bleeding, bruises were blooming from the rocks they'd thrown at him. A lash taken repeatedly to his back sliced open his skin. _

_He cried out, tears streaming down his little face. "Why?" he shouted. "WHY?"_

_They sneered, saying something about the crime of his birth. "You have dirty blood! You're a worthless half-breed!" Then, "We'll cut the demon out of you!"_

_He cowered, kicking and struggling to get away. His young, not fully developed body had little chance of breaking free. He sobbed, his eyes bloodshot and streaming. _

_Pulling off all 20 claws one by one, his fingers and toes were smeared with blood. They all took part, it seemed, jeering and taunting. His wrists and ankles were rubbed raw. He begged and pleaded for them to stop, but they didn't. _

"_And the hair!" Hacked off haphazardly, only short jagged tufts remained. _

_Their eyes searched his body, violating it with their hatred. One woman pointed. "The ears mark him, too!" Eagerly, someone cut them off in a single slice each, following the curve of his skull to get as much off as possible. Blood stained the fur of the ears lying flaccidly upon the ground, their natural curvature flattening. More blood welled out of his wounds, down the sides of his head, and onto his shoulders. _

_He had ceased to struggle or beg. His high voice, still that of a child, was rough and nearly gone. He hung limply, eyes staring sightlessly down. His chest lifted slightly with each heaving breath. _

"_The eyes, too!" they yelled. "They're inhuman!" Taking his chin in hand, they lifted his head. He gazed through their faces blankly. His mind had taken him on a pleasant dream when it realized the brutality could not be prevented. _

_But then, his mother burst into the square and forced the villagers back singlehandedly. It took awhile to gently convince him to return to reality. Once he did, she took him down and then home, crying and clinging desperately to her. He healed, everything regrowing quickly. Sometimes, he wished… none of it had regrown at all. Then he wouldn't be Other, anymore._

He resurfaced from the memory, blinking water droplets from his eyes. Thunder boomed. To his surprise, they were already pulling off the tenth and final toe claw. His body throbbed in exhausted anguish. Whistle, crack! went the flogger. Rain poured. Kagome's disappearing voice wept and shouted. Taunts crashed into him. He realized in shock that he was weeping. He roughly forced himself to stop. He had no idea how he'd acted during the flashback. If he had begged…, he'd rather just drop dead and save himself from that embarrassment.

But who was he kidding, anyway? They were right. They were all right. He was nothing, unfit to be anyone's friend. Kagome was worthy of much better. He was surprised she let him touch her at all, smell her gentle scent, or even watch her from afar. They'd tried all his long life to drill into his head that he was inferior. How could all the people he'd ever met be wrong? It was unanimous, and he was tired of fighting it. Let them do what they will. He deserved it all and more.

Their hands released his tormented feet; they stood, beginning to pry his fingers out of their fists.

Hanging limply and in the nude, he relaxed his hands submissively. The claw wounds in his palms at last began to bleed freely. He blocked all sounds from his mind. Allowing his fatigue to carry him away, he fell into another memory.

"_No, Tsukiko! Come back!" he hollered, tears falling from his eyes. "Please, come back! I don't care about all that! I forgive you! Please, you're all I have!"_

_Tsukiko was his first real friend, his only companion after the death of his mother. She'd befriended the young half-demon one day when she saw him playing alone just outside her village. She'd noticed him hanging around for about a fortnight; he always looked disconsolate and terribly lonely. _

_She approached, stopping when he jerked his head up, much like a nervous squirrel. He backed away several steps. _

"_It's okay," she said gently. "My name is Tsukiko. What's yours?"_

_Since then, they'd been secret friends. The twelve-year-old Inuyasha was much too learned in the ways of men now to go into the village. So Tsukiko snuck away to the forest every day to see him. For a heavenly period of two months, Inuyasha had a friend._

_But unbeknownst to Inuyasha, Tsukiko's family and friends had learned that she was playmates with a monster plaguing their wood. After each stubborn visit, they punished and indoctrinated her about its evil. Slowly, she grew more distant with Inuyasha. Eventually, she grew snippy and acted superior, snubbing his suggestions for games to play. Her inexplicable manner flabbergasted him. _

_Then, one day, she smugly invited him to her house. Reluctantly, Inuyasha anxiously allowed himself to be led by the hand. When they passed a building that had her scent all over it, he asked, "Isn't that where you live?"_

_She smirked and lied, "No, stupid. Don't you know anything?" _

_Finally, they reached the center of the town, where ranged almost every villager, expressions of vile delight and expectation on their faces. A platform pillory stood waiting, an aisle opening between it and himself. He shook his head, walking backward. "No. You wouldn't," he denied. It was like a nightmare come true._

_Tsukiko laughed. "You're so gullible." Her face sobered abruptly. "Do you know how long I had to endure being with you, just for this? It was my idea, too." She beamed in pride, seeking her father's gaze out from the crowd._

_He just kept shaking his head and retreating in disbelief. "No, no." He bumped into someone, causing him to jump and yip. A hairy right arm tightened across his chest; a rough left hand clutched his throat. He panicked, clawing at the limbs. They dropped away, bleeding. He whirled. A man laid on the ground, moaning and glaring. The other humans surrounded him, brandishing pitchforks and hunks of wood. _

_Prodded, beaten, and forced into the pillory, his hands and head were locked into place, immobilizing him. Vicious catcalls, jeers, and taunts struck him again and again. They hurled rotten vegetables, garbage, rocks, and anything else that could act as a projectile. His heart splintered, ripping into tiny chunks of betrayal. _

_And yet, he clung to those remembered moments of friendship, brief though they were._

_Two forever hours passed before they released his bruised, bleeding body, dumping him deep within the forest. "And don't you __**dare**__ come back!"_

_Tsukiko came back later that night to deliver the final blow. "I hate you!"_

_Inuyasha flinched, but stood up, swaying. He did his best to ignore the grind of broken bones. "How can you say that?" he asked desperately. "What do you want from me!"_

"_I want you to leave!" she cried. "You're evil! Pure evil!" Tsukiko spat on him, whirled, and ran._

_He flinched. "No, Tsukiko! Come back!" He stretched out a hand, perversely wishing for her friendship still. Anyone is better than no one, he thought desperately. He broke down in tears of agony. "Please, come back! I don't care about all that! I forgive you! Please! You're all I have!" He clenched his hands at his aching chest and fell to his knees, sobbing in anguish. He keened. The echoes of his cries dissipated, lost and unreturned._

_He never saw her again._

"INUYASHA! KAGOME!" bellowed Shippo, Sango, and Miroku in shock and unison.

He cringed. These three must be here to take payment, too, for all the times they'd endured his presence. It was sure to be brutal. After all, they'd been together for a much longer time. Lucky them – he was already trussed up and prepared. He waited passively for the blows to fall, but they never did. He looked up weakly in confusion, his neck muscles quivering. Miniature lightning bolts snapped across his bare skin.

A pitched battle broiled before him. Sango and Miroku methodically combated the soldiers as Atsuo shouted and gestured furiously. He thought, _What are they doing? _Fighting the soldiers was foolish when their goals were the same. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," right?

Shippo, following the sounds of scratching and caterwauling, freed Kirara from the crate. She sprang out gleefully and transformed instantly in a blaze of aura-flames. She planted her huge paws in front of Shippo as several soldiers charged, brandishing weapons and yelling war cries. She roared, waving her two tails threateningly back and forth. They hesitated. Shippo bounded onto her back, throwing one of his sundry, illusory toys. It bloomed huge and crashed before them.

Miroku paused, panting, in a pocket of temporary peace. He pushed Kagome's bow and quiver back onto his shoulder. He looked around: Kirara, Shippo, and Sango seemed to have things well enough in hand. He nodded to himself and flexed his hand, getting a better grip on his shakujou.

The downpour was at last beginning to let up. The lightning and thunder continued to crash and flame, unabated. The black night rang with the clash of steel on steel. Arrows zipped through the dark willy-nilly.

Miroku came at a run. Dropping his staff along with Kagome's bow and arrows, he skidded to a stop in front of the half-demon. Alarmed at his nudity and the amount of blood, he immediately sought to free him from the bridle. His fingers skittered franticly over the metal as he exclaimed, "What in the world happened to you?" Receiving no response, he bent backward slightly to look up into Inuyasha's hanging face. It was expressionless – curtained by strings of wet, white hair. His yellow eyes looked down blankly, blinking bemusedly every once in a while. Miroku drew back slightly.

Suddenly, he realized that he felt very little demonic energy from Inuyasha.

"Kagome, what the hell?" the monk asked, hurriedly loosening the leather strap in back. "Why don't I feel much of Inuyasha's youki?" He glanced over at her, and then tried to lift off the bridle. Inuyasha groaned as his head moved along with the cage.

Kagome rasped anxiously, "It's the chains! They're blessed! Hurry – get them off!"

Miroku looked over the bridle more quickly and opened a few hinged pieces, then pulled it off, messing up Inuyasha's white hair. His dog ears flicked up straight again. Relief washed over the half-demon, and he rolled his neck out slowly.

What is this? Inuyasha wondered blearily, watching the monk squat and mess with his ankle chains. Why wouldn't they want to leave him hanging here? This was the best opportunity they'd ever get. Miroku flinched as the electricity shocked him, shaking his hand and wincing. Inuyasha's golden eyes widened at the surge of spiritual power; he moaned, shivering momentarily. _My beloved Kikyo, even you realized it at last, and chose to hate me…But still – how could you shoot that arrow? How could you pin me to the sacred tree for __**50 years**__**?**_

Miroku unscrewed the simple bolt holding on one leg iron. The manacle came off, dangling from the other one still attached. Inuyasha exhaled audibly. Miroku glanced up quickly, and then set to work on the other. It soon came off and together, they splashed into the mud. Miroku stood, stretching to reach Inuyasha's left hand. He whispered, hands pausing in mid-air, "Holy s*%!" at the profusion of blood. Unscrewing this bolt was more difficult, slick with even more liquid than the other. Shouting, Kirara's roars, and the clang of metal came from behind him, distracting him. Experiencing a panicked hastening, it kept slipping in his fingers. But finally, the bolt came out.

The manacle released Inuyasha's wrist in a flash, and his arm fell. Freed of the tension holding it still, his entire body swung to the right and slammed into the post, driving a grunt from him. He jerked his head up, revealing his grimace. He twisted feebly on the end of the chain, which cut deeper into his wound.

"I'll get you down, Inuyasha," Miroku reassured shakily. Inuyasha wasn't himself, not at all. What had they done to him?

The bolt came out, and Inuyasha fell. He cried out when his feet hit the ground, and he collapsed to hands and knees. Jerking when the mud squished into the injuries on his hands, his bleeding, ruined back was finally exposed. Long, red cuts and small, ripped indentations crisscrossed it, barely an unmarred strip of skin remaining. Miroku flinched, glancing at Kagome.

She stared at Inuyasha, tears gathering in her eyes. "Oh, Inuyasha!"

He slurred slowly, "Why do my feet hurt?" He looked at Kagome, tired confusion and surprise on his face.

She replied, startled, "Don't you remember? They used a bastinado." Miroku released her feet and stood, reaching for her hand.

"A… what?" Inuyasha asked, arms quivering. He didn't really even ache anymore; everything had gone numb. He felt greatly relieved to be released from the purifying chains; or at least, his mind was. His body didn't really seem to notice. He was still so tired…. _Please, guys, don't hurt me anymore. Just don't hurt me anymore…._

She cocked her head. "They beat the soles of your feet with a stick, for a really long time. How can you not remember?" She tried to brace herself on the pole with her feet as Miroku undid the last shackle. They kept slipping on the rainwater, though.

Inuyasha didn't answer, just let his arms slide through the mud until he lied on his stomach, head to his left. The leash bulged uncomfortably underneath him, but he didn't care. He closed his eyes and sighed. He could fall asleep right here, if only they'd leave him alone. Just take your payment later – he wouldn't fight it. He understood and willingly took the blame for what he was. He knew he deserved it. He deserved it all.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome knelt in the mud next to him, her hoarse voice breaking. "Don't die on me!" She reached for his hand, but changed her grip to his outstretched arm.

"Don't touch me!" he roared, startling her. He recoiled, rising to his feet, forgetting momentarily about the bastinado. He cried out, staggering backward until his back smacked into a pole. He contorted his face in pain, grunted, and slid to the ground. He moaned, ears flicking erratically. Die? He didn't want to die. He hadn't agreed to that. Payment, yes. Death, no.

"Inuyasha, what's wrong?" Kagome asked, stretching her arm toward him. She paused, thinking. Then in realization, "I'm sorry! I hurt you." Her black hair was plastered to her skull. Her lower lip quivered, and she wiped at her leaking eyes with the backs of her fingers.

Inuyasha thought bitterly, Oh, crying, huh? Yeah, sometimes they cried when they did or planned something really awful. Just the thought of it would make them weep. They didn't want to hurt him, they said, but he made them by being a bad dog. It hurt their hearts to do it, but they did it anyway, for his sake. He curled his lip in disgust, still locking gazes with Kagome. She looked hurt.

Miroku, squatting before Inuyasha, said very gently, "Inuyasha, here are your clothes." They were gathered in a haphazard pile in his hands. Inuyasha shifted his gaze to Miroku's rain-dampened face, and then to the soggy fabric. The sneer slipped from his face, replaced by confusion. He frowned, but took his hakama from Miroku and struggled slowly to put it on, refusing help. He didn't even try the suikan – that would hurt too much. Once done, he leaned gently back against the post and frowned dully again, cocking his head.

Miroku felt an edge of caution and increasing alarm worm through his chest. He slowly stood, leaving the suikan behind, taking one backward step after another. When he reached Kagome's side, he paused and lifted her by her right forearm. He then continued retreating, taking her with him.

She looked sideways at him, puzzled. "Miroku?"

He whispered worriedly, still gazing at Inuyasha, "I don't think… he's… **stable** anymore." He looked into her eyes briefly. "Be wary."

Kagome's face lined with deep-set worry. "Stable?" she asked quietly, turning back to Inuyasha.

Inuyasha watched them back away, the small frown still on his face. Then it collapsed into understanding and despair. The debt was already paid! It was just like with Tsukiko, only worse. They planned on leaving him here, enslaved by these soldiers. They were abandoning him here! He'd never see them again, not ever. The abuse he was used to, the abandonment he could never become dulled to. His heart, which had slowly been melted by their friendship, cracked and shattered into a million pieces. His chest ripped open, leaving only a gaping, empty, unfeeling hole in its wake. The landscape beyond could be seen through the cavity.

He slumped deeper into the mud. Did it really even matter anymore? He was a half-breed. Of course they betrayed and abandoned him. It was like the sun rising in the east – inevitable and the natural course of things. His yellow eyes drained of life.

Kagome sucked in a breath and tore away from Miroku, unable to stand seeing him like that. It was so wrong, so not Inuyasha! She cried his name hoarsely. She fell to her knees before him, splashing up mud. The rain mingled with her tears. Resisting the urge to throw her arms around him and inadvertently cause him pain, she clasped his face between her hands. She slid them to the back of his neck and clutched his hair in both fists. Kagome kissed him desperately, whispering against his lips, "I love you! Please, please, come back to me."

As Inuyasha looked over the top of Kagome's head into the distance, a stone-struck Miroku watched agony fill the yellow eyes. They closed, a single tear trailing down the muddied face. Then Inuyasha brought his arms up and shoved Kagome, hard. She fell backward, landing on her butt in the muck.

Inuyasha stood, wrapping his left arm around the post and grasping his forearm with the other hand for support. His legs trembled. He roared, "TRAITOR!" His face collapsed in anguish and he whispered, "How can you lie to me?"

"It's not a lie!" she cried, arms outstretched. "Inuyasha, please!" she pleaded, voice thick with tears.

He wailed, "LIAR!" Legs crumpling, he dropped to his knees, arms still entwined with the post. He threw his head back and keened.

But then, overwhelming fury burst forth, battling the despair and misery that threatened to drown him. Bringing his head back down, he stared accusingly at Kagome. NO! How could she? **How?** He dug his hands into the wood and fought the pain in his body, now insignificant compared to the agony tearing at his heart. He struggled to his feet again; he absolutely refused, no matter the cost, to face this double-crossing world on his knees.

Letting go the post, he stood, fists at his sides, head up in a defiant gesture. Kagome rose, too, instinctively reaching for his arm. He stepped back swiftly. Inuyasha growled, ears back, lip lifting in a sneer to reveal his fangs. He whirled, blindly marching away by a spider's silken threads of willpower.

Each step along the row of poles pounded on his battered feet, mud squishing between his toes and over the bloody holes where claws should curl. Hands clenched, he couldn't care less about the pain, even though his back throbbed bitterly and his chest ached, empty. Or rather, not empty enough. Inuyasha wished he could seal it over and never be forced to look at it again, much less ever feel it. If only he could coat it with ice; if only he could be someone else, anyone else.

… If only he could lose his humanity, he'd surely lose his capacity for this kind of pain.

He stopped walking, morbidly inspired, and opened himself, welcoming his demon half. If ever he could call it forward, he wished that moment to be now. More than anything, he wished to lose himself in the bloodthirsty, vicious nature of the demon blood that, a few times now, had overtaken his body to protect him. Without Tetsusaiga, the suppressant, it could spring forth and transform him into a mindless beast, incapable of feeling pain or fear, only the pleasure of killing. And he would keep killing until he died or used Tetsusaiga to transform back. However, it only emerged when his death was imminent.

Well, physical death wasn't the same as emotional death. But surely this terrible, unending agony could bring it out! All he wanted was an end to the agony! It never entered into his deliberations that innocents would probably die, along with himself and his "supposed" friends. All that mattered was that the anguish, the terrible pain that gnawed inexorably away at everything he was, would end!

His legs were quivering. He felt the traitoress looking at him. How could she lie to him like that, and for so long? How could he fall for it, time and again? How could he be so trusting? He was such a gullible fool!

He found himself kneeling, raising his arms and face to the black sky. Raindrops fell past him, creating the illusion that he was speeding forward. Hands fisted, chest thrust out powerfully, he roared with pain and rage.

The desolation consumed him whole.

His white hair lifted in a wind flowing out from his body. His wounds sealed over instantly, leaving only what looked like month-old marks. His irises oozed into a teal color; his sclera bled to scarlet. Jagged purple streaks appeared on his cheekbones – a rough, triangular form with its point jutting under the center of his eyes, the thick end hidden in his hair. His canines stretched, snake-like, extending over his lower lip. Long, powerful, razor-sharp claws shot out from his fingertips and toes with a burst of blood.

His youki exploded.

The feral half-demon leapt to his feet, tearing at the chain around his neck. The metal snapped apart as easily and as quickly as a sapling is uprooted in a tornado. Inuyasha flung it down, snarling, eyebrows snapping downward angrily over blue and red eyes. The unnoticed claw marks on his neck oozed blood.

Lord Atsuo stood thunderstruck, his yell trailing away. Shocked, he realized too late the consequences of pushing a half-demon too far. The interrupted combatants froze, falling silent. Atsuo's arms, mid-gesture, fell slowly to his sides. He stared helplessly back at the intense red eyes following his every movement. Instinctively, he remained stock-still, a baby rabbit trying vainly to hide in an open, barren snow-scape. He could dimly see the statues of his men and slaves out of the corners of his eyes. In the back of his mind, he realized in fear that the fence behind him would attract this raging beast – easy, waiting prey ripe for the slaughter.

Most of him, though, pounded with adrenaline, shrieking at him to run. His feet were rooted to the earth. Those red and blue eyes flicked, body crouching, tensing, to close the distance between them like lightning.

Low, maniacal laughter suddenly rang out from deep within the creature's chest. It stopped just as abruptly, face reverting back to undeniable rage. The beast spread his claws out with a sound as of sharp knives slicing against one another. He sprang at Lord Atsuo, rapidly covering the meters in a single bound.

Atsuo screamed a high-pitched scream, turning his face away and raising his arms in futile protection. His eyes squeezed shut.

Blood sprayed over the transformed half-demon, who landed lightly on the balls of his feet. The kneeling Sadao stared in shock at nothing, having leapt to take the blow for his lord. His head slowly slid away from his shoulders, crashing to the ground. It rolled, coming to a stop with its eyes gazing sightlessly at Kagome. Blood oozed from the neck, forming a rippling, pink pool in the water, which slowly turned dark.

She remained frozen for an instant that seemed to stretch into eternity, staring into the blank eyes. Then the shock of this man's death suddenly propelled her to action. She screamed hoarsely, "Inuyasha! NO! Stop it!" She began to run toward him, but Miroku snagged her left wrist.

"Don't," he hissed. "You'll only get yourself killed. No one can reach him now." Kagome, startled, eyes wide, nodded reluctantly. Slowly, he released her wrist.

He looked up, locking scared eyes with Sango, who sat astride Kirara. Shippo, too, was beyond Inuyasha, far off on Atsuo's left. They were surrounded by dumbstruck, frightened soldiers. The slaves in the corral were cowering, bunched up, in the corners farthest from Inuyasha.

Meanwhile, Atsuo quivered, looking wide-eyed at the growling half-demon. Neither moved for a forever second.

Atsuo broke and ran to his left. Inuyasha chuckled with glee, cracking his knuckles. He let his prey get a brief, inconsequential head start, but then dashed, overtaking him in the blink of an eye. With a cry, Atsuo flung himself desperately onto the ground. Claws swept over him, barely missing. The second swipe from the other hand cleaved his back open diagonally from shoulder to hip. Five neat cuts sprayed hot, life-sustaining liquid. Atsuo's face was turned to the right. Surprise was apparent in his wide, darkening eyes.

The soldiers panicked at the sudden death of their lord. They fled, abandoning Kirara, Sango, and Shippo, who stood frozen. Inuyasha laughed delightedly and sprinted for his next kill, following the movement on his right. His crazed, red eyes glinted in the flickering torchlight.

The violent storm was finally passing. The lightning was growing distant in the western sky, the crackling thunder quieter, slower after the flash. The raindrops no longer poured from the heavens, but dripped gently.

Kirara shot for the sky and arched gracefully away from Inuyasha's death path, landing in front of Miroku and Kagome.

Immediately, Sango demanded, "What happened? What made him change?" She flipped her wet hair behind an ear with jerky annoyance.

Miroku said swiftly, "There's no time to explain. You have Tetsusaiga! We – "

"Really? You found it?" Kagome interrupted, despair and dumbfounded shock lifting to clear her mind. She clasped her hands together hopefully, eyebrows lifted.

Sango exhaled impatiently. "Yes. I need to bring it to him. Here, take Shippo." She lifted the little fox demon from in front of her toward Kagome. Shippo protested loudly, squirming, but was ignored.

"Uh, okay…," Kagome muttered in surprise, taking him cooperatively into her arms. Shippo writhed helplessly, kicking his feet.

Miroku said firmly to Sango, "I'm coming with you." He waited, eyebrows lifted. When she nodded, he climbed up behind her. Kirara turned and burst out of a cannon into the sky. Kagome and Shippo scrunched their eyes shut, clothes ruffling.

Miroku and Sango were shocked at the amount of carnage Inuyasha had already wrought in the short time their eyes were turned away. Bodies lay strewn everywhere, still bleeding. The mud and water, mingling with the red liquid, was turning a gruesome shade of maroon. A few remaining soldiers were running, shrieking, away from the demented creature intent on their deaths. (They now felt proven correct somewhere in the backs of their minds as to a half-demon's character.) Inuyasha cackled hysterically as he slew them. Still chortling uncannily, he took a wide stance, ready to spring off his toes, as he searched for more prey. Spotting some, he instantaneously dashed toward the mouth of a far-off alley slightly to his left. Shrieks reverberated off the half-finished walls. Blood sprayed, splashing horribly.

Sango and Miroku glanced at one another uneasily.

She cried, "Go, Kirara!" The nekomata obediently dove back to the ground, angling toward the transfigured half-demon. Her fire-aura crackled, tails flicking. Unsheathing Tetsusaiga, Sango called over her shoulder, "Ready yourself, Miroku!"

"It's done!" he answered. He held his staff to his right side, prepared.

Kirara's huge paws hit the ground, and she ran, splashing mud and leaping over bodies. Once close, Sango yelled, "Inuyasha!"

He whirled and grinned slowly – dark, pleasurable thoughts stark on his face. He held his muscled, bloodied arms out from his body, his knees bent and prepared. Blood smeared his fangs and dripped from his fingers. It trailed down his neck from the vertical claw marks there. Spent arrows jutted from his upper body, front and back. One spear, embedded in his gut, flopped when he turned. He ripped it out in furious annoyance, sharp claws flashing. Blood gushed. It slowed, bit by bit, even as they watched.

"Take Tetsusaiga!" Sango thrust it out, hilt first. Miroku's sharp intake of air from behind her seemed to disapprove of such simplicity.

Inuyasha snarled viciously, contorting his hands and swiping the air with wrath. He lifted his lip, baring his blood-coated fangs. Furrowing his brow in rage and narrowing his red, red eyes, he attacked.

Kirara roared, sidestepping and baring her own sharp canines. His left-hand claws flashed past, centimeters from Miroku's and Sango's left calves. Kirara launched herself into the black sky before he could attack again.

"How can we stop him?" Sango asked in a panic as they circled, only a little higher than the rooftops of the two completed structures nearby.

Inuyasha roared at them, head tilted back to follow their movements. He took a running start and leapt after them, a superhuman bound. The distance closed incredibly quickly, frightening and startling the monk and demon-slayer. Inuyasha swung wildly with his elongated claws, catching the tip of one of Kirara's tails. The point spun away and she howled in pain. Like red paint, blood matted her fur.

The insane Inuyasha thudded into the mud, splattering it outward, fountain-like. He immediately bounded up again, slashing. Miroku pulled his arm back and desperately, instinctively swung the sharp ornamental tip of his staff at Inuyasha's approaching, deadly claws. His shakujou broke apart upon impact, the wood splintering in his hands. Yet, the clawed hand was still knocked aside. Inuyasha, thwarted, screamed in rage as he plummeted once more, right hand bleeding slightly.

Miroku panted, "I guess… we just fight him… until he passes out from his wounds… then use Tetsusaiga."

"That can't work!" Sango cried, treading over the last of his sentence. "He'll kill us long before then!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Miroku asked furiously as he helplessly watched Inuyasha make another impossible jump.

She lifted Hiraikotsu off her shoulder and hurled it directly at the red-eyed demon. Arms spread wide, it smacked into his unprotected stomach and he fell, grinding into the soggy earth. The gigantic, bone boomerang looped back up and the demon slayer easily caught it one-handed.

The crazed creature leapt back to his feet instantly; his mind did not register pain in this form. He roared at them, immediately flying after them once more. Caught off-guard, Sango had no time to react. Kirara, paws moving as though she stood on the ground, sidestepped mid-air, and slashed with her own claws, cutting open his left forearm in four clean lines. Blood spurted. Inuyasha bellowed without pain, only rage, as his prey evaded him. He plunged, landing easily on his feet. His legs tensed for another jump.

An alarmed cry, abruptly cut off, snagged his attention. He turned his head in the direction of the fence. His movement was so snake-like, he almost tested the air with a forked tongue. He grinned instead, flashing bloody fangs, and laughed eerily. He raced toward the emerging slaves. Their slow, furtive movements rushed into a frenzy of screaming and panicked terror.

"Kagome! Shippo!" yelled Miroku around Sango's left shoulder.

They stood frozen. Kagome's left hand still clutched the gate she'd opened. The two's senses were made painfully more acute by their fear. They helplessly watched the scarlet-eyed, furious creature slay the others. Their human blood stained his claws, his face, his chest. His unnerving guffaws pealed anew at each kill. His eyebrows slanted furiously downward to his nose at an acute angle. Only very short bits of the broken arrow shafts still protruded from his mud-caked skin. His left arm swung uselessly at his side.

The rain at last began to taper away. The lightning and thunder were growing ever closer to the western horizon. Water dripped from all surfaces, coating the maroon field of slaughter.

Kirara landed behind Inuyasha, pounding across the mire with her huge, ivory paws. She roared, but the manic half-demon was intent on murder. A tiny movement of Kagome's hand had caught his eye, and he'd turned, allowing the other humans to get away. For now.

He slunk closer to Kagome and Shippo, trying to prevent their flight. The fox demon crouched cowering behind her legs. Only about three meters still separated them. Bone glinted through the cuts in his left arm.

Sango threw Hiraikotsu with her left arm toward Inuyasha. It looped a little to the left, then began to cut straight across her vision, perpendicular to Inuyasha's angle of attack. Inuyasha's left ear flicked, picking up the whistle of air rushing over the bone. He leapt straight up, and the boomerang spun past underneath his feet. Sango caught it again and hissed in frustration.

Inuyasha, upon landing, chuckled softly with satisfaction and cracked his knuckles. He didn't spare Sango even a glance. His long, sharp claws glistened with fresh blood. He took another step, ignoring the insignificant demon and human duet behind him. He sensed that this girl before him was special in some way. He cackled louder – it wouldn't just be fun to kill this one. It would be ecstasy!

"No, Inuyasha," Kagome whispered. She was petrified with denial and fright. "You couldn't." It never occurred to her that she could say "sit" and negate the danger, at least temporarily; she was beyond terror and much further beyond thought.

He howled in refusal, brandishing his claws. Somehow, those words had reached into his pain-battered mind, entrenched in the rushing, pounding flow of his demon blood. He began to run toward his ultimate target.

"NO!" Sango yelled. An eleventh-hour, desperate idea popped into her head and she followed through with it instantly, without thought. She changed her grip on Tetsusaiga's hilt and drew her arm back.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Wow, sorry. This is really short. I've been busy with my other story, though...

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Sango held Tetsusaiga trembling in the air for a long moment. Taking very careful aim for this single chance at a shot, she heaved the rusty sword like a javelin. It arced, its point gently creating a perfect parabola through the air.

The half-demon extended his right arm to kill this black-haired, beautiful, yet utterly despicable human. His claws were almost at her flesh when suddenly he stumbled to a halt. Puzzlement filled his angry, red and blue eyes. He looked down, hand slowly lowering to his side.

A length of rusted steel jutted from his chest.

In his peripheral vision he saw his target being hastily pulled off to the side, but the sword piercing him held the rest of his attention. He fell to his knees, still staring at the steel, which, he knew distantly, was somehow of great consequence. He looked up and saw Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kagome, and Kirara all gazing at him. Anyone else still left alive was long gone.

He cocked his head, alien features puckering in confusion ill-suited to that face. The colors were all so vivid, so surreal. He saw nothing for a moment but their faces. Whatever lied behind them was obscured by soft, billowing white clouds. Then he felt something strange happening to his fingertips.

Eyes widening in horror, he lifted his hands, palms up, fingers curled. His powerful claws receded before his eyes. The purple marks on his cheekbones faded. With dismay, he felt his fangs shrink back up over his lower lip. His eyes lost their look of savage hunger, giving way to one of alarm and dread. The red and blue colors eased away, returning to white and yellow.

He swayed, the blood draining from his face. Slowly, he began to fall forward.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome breathed in relief next to his ear. She must have caught him.

Pain filled his golden eyes. He knew he wouldn't be able to stay with her. He was a half-breed. Still, it was nice to be held, even if it was only a lie.

A few sensations were clear. He could keenly feel the arrowheads embedded underneath his skin. The edges of his own sword were sharp in his chest. His arm, back, and feet pounded. Inuyasha looked up at her where he kneeled, sitting back on his heels. He whispered, his voice ringing, "Pull it out." His eyes were agonized.

Kagome's own eyes widened and she looked around. "Sango," she cried, "pull out Tetsusaiga!"

He felt like he was missing key details as Sango's voice came gently from behind him. "Okay." He felt her wrap her hand around the hilt and tug on the sword. His skin caught, tearing jaggedly, on the nicks and rough edges of the blade. He moaned.

The white clouds rapidly overtook his vision, and he knew no more.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Truly?" Priestess Kaede, their friend, asked incredulously. "Inuyasha called ye a traitor?" The old woman looked up from her meal into Kagome's eyes. She wore a simple, voluminous white and red outfit of a priestess; an eye patch covered her left eye. A chopstick-full of her breakfast she held suspended in mid-air, forgotten. She sighed sadly at the reply, finally raising the rice to her mouth.

Myoga, an old, tiny flea demon, squeaked, "Never, in all my years of serving Lord Inuyasha, have I heard of him acting this way!" He hopped up and down in agitation on Kaede's left shoulder. They shushed him, and he sulked, crossing his double pairs of arms, but didn't say anything further. He **was** curious, after all, and so settled down to listen to the rest of the tale unfold.

They explained Inuyasha's transformation to full demon and his subsequent battle, followed by his change back. Then, after patching up everyone's wounds as best they could, Kagome, Sango, and Shippo had commandeered several horses for faster travel and to carry the unconscious, battered Inuyasha. They used Shippo's earlier findings to travel out of the maze of the castle. Kirara and Miroku flew off to find the monk's friend, Hachi the raccoon demon. They soon returned on Hachi's shape-shifted back, only to find that Inuyasha had disappeared. Reportedly, he'd awoken and, furious, he'd dashed away on his own. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of him since.

Kaede lowered her empty bowl to the floor at the close of the story. Pushing her hands into the opposite sleeves of her robe, she closed her eyes briefly in thought. She then turned back to the other's concerned and confused expressions. Myoga, too, said nothing.

"Kaede," pleaded Shippo, "why would Inuyasha do all that? I don't get it! It's like… he chose to transform! But he knows that's bad! He killed loads of people!" Kirara meowed mournfully. She licked her tender, healing tail. Sango stroked her reassuringly where she curled in her lap.

"Myoga, Kaede, please," Kagome entreated, "what's wrong with him?" She set aside her own half-eaten breakfast with a quiet thunk.

Myoga leapt to his feet, waving his four arms wildly. "He's gone mad! He's finally lost it! I warned him about transforming, but he went ahead and did it anyway!" he ranted irreverently. "His demon blood has gone to his head!"

Kagome shouted, "No! NO! He's not mad! He can't be!" She threw her hands up and out, then brought them back down to her mouth, curling them there in fright.

"Myoga, you're not helping," Sango scolded gently.

He sputtered. Waving a diminutive finger at her, he cried, "Hey! You should learn to respect your elders!"

"Kaede," Miroku asked, turning to her, "what do **you** think?"

Kaede remained quiet for a time, holding up a hand to implore their patience when they sought to erupt in questions again. At last, she said slowly, "I suspect it is because of how long he underwent the abuse," she paused to gather her words carefully, "As well as these purification chains…. Ye also mentioned that the soldiers called him names, picked on him more than the rest of ye?"

Kagome nodded vigorously. "Yeah, they were really cruel!"

Miroku spoke, "But it's Inuyasha! He wouldn't even **notice** name-calling."

"NOTICE!" yelped Myoga. "He'd think it was good sport!" He bounced up and down for emphasis from Kaede's shoulder to the height of her ear.

The old priestess shrugged. "I know little of his past. 'Tis possible…"

Gasping, Kagome interrupted, crying, "No! You don't think that's happened to him before?"

Myoga's mouth dropped open in shock.

Miroku's eyes lit with understanding. He laid a hand on Kagome's left shoulder. She jerked her head toward him. He said gently, "Inuyasha **is** a half-demon. He's probably experienced prejudice his whole life."

Kagome shot to her feet, upsetting her bowl and spilling rice all over the floor. "No! You saw him, Miroku! We both did! Do you really think that Inuyasha, of all people, would ever succumb to that?"

Miroku stood as well and said calmly, "Yes, I saw him. But did **you** notice the look in his eyes?" She faltered. "Yes – it was despair. That's **exactly** what I think happened."

"Despair? Bah!" Myoga squeaked. Miroku lifted an eyebrow briefly in his direction.

Sango leaned back and said disbelievingly from her seat on the floor, "But… Inuyasha? He's always been the type to get angry, to fight back, not roll over and, and give up!"

"Yeah!" Shippo interjected.

"I know." Miroku looked at Sango as he spoke. He chuckled to himself. "How well I know." He raised his eyebrow again. "But when you account for his 200 years… many people could hurt him, a lot, in that amount of time."

Myoga peeped, "No! My lord – he could not be hurt by mere humans!" He began to bounce agitatedly again.

Sango accused, "How would you know? You **never** stick around when there's trouble."

"Yeah! And what about his brother, Sesshomaru? He's a demon, and he hates Inuyasha!" Shippo added.

"Hey! Since when did it become okay to always pick on the little guy?" the flea demon retorted.

Kagome sat back down slowly, ignoring their tiredness-enhanced bickering. "Inuyasha…," she whispered, looking beyond the old priestess. She shifted her pleading eyes back to Kaede's face. "But he's never said anything!"

Miroku finally lowered himself to the floor, too, allowing the older spiritual adviser to take charge.

Kaede shrugged. "That's always been his way. But ye have helped him, child. Don't ye remember how he was when ye first met?"

"Yeah." Kagome sighed and nodded. Then she admitted, "I miss him."

* * *

The first gray tint of dawn began to leech the horizon of black. Not far beyond Kaede's village lay an old wood; creaking, gnarled oaks stretched a slithering canopy over short, stumpy bushes and reaching, finger-like silhouettes of ferns. Dead, sloughed-off leaves encrusted the otherwise barren earth. A huge, majestic tree – a sacred tree, yet one scarred by deceit – stood within the unforgiving, lightless heart of the forest. Perched masochistically in its rough branches was a form, dimly recognizable to the native creatures as a human shape. Usually, they skittered away at the sound or smell of humans, but this one was strangely welcomed home here. However, they sensed its rage and pain – could smell blood on it – and as a result did not venture close to this dangerous predator.

The form lifted its head slowly, and rested it against the trunk of the tree. It spotted the crescent curve of the moon stabbing intermittently through the black leaves. Its wind-ruffled, white hair shone in the dark like newborn, wriggling maggots. It raised its right hand for scrutiny, turning it back and forth. A dark substance entirely coated the oddly elegant fingers and dull claws. A breeze wafted the scent into its face, and it wrinkled its nose, tightening the hand into a fist. By force of will, it seemed, the shape uncurled the stained fingers and nonchalantly picked something from underneath the flashing claws. It moved his left arm slowly, gingerly. It flicked the material into the darkness, then proceeded to do the same to the left hand.

Inuyasha dropped his hands into his lap, releasing his neck muscles and propping his head back against the tree. It made a satisfactory thunk, so he did it again. And once more. He sighed, then gritted his teeth. Conflicting emotions coursed through him. He slashed at the branch he sat on, before his crossed legs. Five pale lines appeared in the cracked bark. A sudden flood of fury, pleased by the action, compelled him to slash and cut with his uninjured right hand until the branch creaked, splintered, and fell away. Just enough of the bough had remained for his perch.

He leaned back and looked at his hand, palm up. Splinters had driven themselves under his claws and into his fingers. Tiny drops of blood grew and trembled on his skin. Some of the caked-on redness had been scraped away. The fresh physical pain opened the burden on his heart, and tears trailed down his cheeks silently, safe in the knowledge that he was utterly alone in the dark. He tenderly traced his bandages through his clothes, envisioning Kagome's hands wrapping his wounds. He desperately wished he could be at her side, wished he could hold her in his arms, wished he could smell her gentle scent. Yet he wished in futility.

The evidence was on his hands, under his claws, in the odorous air. He had killed again – probably many times, many innocent people. He couldn't remember it, but he didn't need nor want to. How could he think that transforming was the solution? It only proved once again how corrupt and defiled he was. It was no wonder why they would do as they did. He was worse than worthless.

His hands fisted. Well, so what if he was? Did it really matter anymore? He scrunched his eyes closed, wiping roughly at his own betraying tears.

His heart bled at the prospect of stark, looming loneliness. Was it really better to leave and return to that? Or was it better to have someone – anyone, even someone who hurt him, who cared even enough to spare him notice – rather than no one and nothing at all?

* * *

"I think we should look for Inuyasha," Kagome burst out. She paced impatiently in front of Kaede's hut, wringing her hands. The noonday sun beat down on her head. She chewed her lower lip, glancing up at the others' eyes as she passed by. She whirled, beginning a new circuit.

Sango and Miroku leaned against the wall next to one another, tiredly watching Kagome stride back and forth. Shippo and Kirara had curled up, snoring, on Miroku's left. Kaede, too, stood near Shippo, watching, her hands in opposite sleeves. Myoga was still perched on her shoulder.

Sango yawned and asked, "Where would you start?" Mildly, she marveled at how much energy Kagome seemed to have. None of them had slept last night, but that didn't appear to matter to her.

Kagome threw up her hands as she walked toward Kaede again. "I don't know! But… we have to find him! Convince him to come back!"

"Child," Kaede said gently, "ye have need of rest. We – "

"No!" she interrupted. "I don't care! We have to find him! Now! The longer we wait, the farther away he can go, and then we'll **never** find him!" she wailed. She roughly wiped at her eyes, then folded her arms and marched away again.

"Well, do you have a plan?" demanded Myoga.

To herself, Kaede wondered whether it was possible to find a half-demon who didn't want to be found.

The young woman perked up, uncrossing her arms. She stopped walking, standing in front of the priestess. "Maybe," she said hesitantly to both Myoga and Kaede. Too much nervous energy compelled her to do something with her hands, so she twisted them together, twisting and twisting. "I was thinking, if Kirara was willing – I know she's hurt – that we could fly around and try to spot him from the sky. That red robe is pretty eye-catching." She glanced tentatively at the ground before meeting Kaede's eyes again. Kagome whispered, "Who knows how far he got by now?" She whirled and began to pace once more, calling over her shoulder, "So, what do you think?"

Myoga cheeped haughtily, boasting, "It'll never work! Lord Inuyasha could be halfway across the country by now!"

Kagome flinched.

The old woman sighed, closing her good eye. Miroku spoke up, causing Kaede to look at him. "What about your 'sit?'" he said to Kagome, turning his head to follow her path.

"What about it?" Kagome snapped.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I was just thinking that if you kept calling 'sit,' we'd probably hear his thud. Goodness knows, he'd most likely seek **us** out after that."

Sango said sarcastically, "Yeah – to kill us. Pissing off an already-pissed-off Inuyasha is a terrible idea."

Miroku struggled to rein in his exhaustion-shortened temper. "Well, do you have a better one?"

The demon-slayer admitted reluctantly, "No." She fought to keep her eyes from closing, jerking them open and blinking blearily.

Kagome halted. "Hey, that's not bad. I could just keep saying it!" She continued to convince herself, "And then Kirara can rest! Great! Come on, you guys, let's go!" She pivoted on her heel, stalking toward the village outskirts. "Sit, boy! Sit, boy!" she hollered.

Myoga yelled pessimistically, "Didn't you hear what I said? 'Halfway across the country!' He won't be anywhere near here!"

Miroku and Sango staggered to their feet. "Hey! Wait! We should talk about this!" he called. "I didn't mean it! Honest!" Sango paused to scoop up Kirara and Shippo, before dashing away. "Are you coming, you two?" the demon-slayer threw over her shoulder.

The one-eyed priestess sighed, shook her head, and reluctantly trailed after.

"Sit, boy! Sit, boy! Sit, boy!" Kagome yelled. "Inuyasha! Sit!" She stopped walking, muttering, "I should have brought water." It would have been especially helpful now, since she'd shouted all day yesterday, it seemed. She swallowed several times. Looking over her shoulder, she spotted her friends slowly tottering along in her wake; Kaede and Myoga had long since caught up. "Come on, you guys! Hurry up!" Tiredness threatened to drag her under, but she ignored it in her frantic craze. "Sit!" Continuing along the dirt road stretching out from the village, Kagome marched along.

Suddenly, she halted again. She slowly turned to scrutinize the tree line to her right, thinking that she'd sensed eyes on her. "Inuyasha?" she whispered. She paused, then called louder, "Is that you, Inuyasha?" The only response was a rustle of leaves in the afternoon breeze. "Sit!" She waited. Nothing. She sighed, crestfallen. Glancing back at the others, she waved to get their attention. Pointing into the trees, she tore through the forest in desperate hope.

Miroku and Sango took deep breaths, eyeing one another in dismay. Kaede sighed, but said nothing. For once, Myoga followed suit. Shippo and Kirara, oblivious, slept on in Sango's arms.

"Sit!" Kagome shouted. "Sit!" Her friends trudged through the underbrush after her. Occasionally, she would pause to listen, hoping for an angry bellow or a thud. An hour passed without a response. She struggled to reassure herself: _he's probably just not anywhere near here, and there's a lot of ground we haven't gone over yet; it's okay, we'll find him; really, we will; _and_ get a hold of yourself, girl._

All of a sudden, Kagome realized that she recognized her surroundings. The sacred tree wasn't far away, nor was The Bone Eaters' Well that she used to travel to and from her own time. Automatically – by now – she shouted, "Sit!"

A crash of breaking branches came from somewhere in front of her. She jumped. A string of rapid, muttered curses emitted from the undergrowth. "Inuyasha!" Kagome squealed happily. She sprinted.

Bursting into a small clearing, she immediately spotted the half-demon lying awkwardly facedown at the base of the sacred tree. Broken tree limbs littered the area around him. She dashed toward him, falling to her knees and encircling her arms around his chest in blatant disregard of the circumstances of his leave-taking.

Inuyasha flinched as her hands brushed against his wounds, both physical and metaphorical. Completely unprepared for this encounter, he felt totally overwhelmed. He rushed to his feet, bringing her clinging body with him. He thrust her off, running backward until he hit the edge of the clearing and the bushes. He eyed her askance.

Kaede, Shippo, Kirara, Sango, Myoga, and Miroku erupted from the tree line as one unit. "Inuyasha!" the three humans and flea demon cried in unison. They tensed, sensing not to get any closer, and remained standing where they had emerged. The two demons awoke, instinctively realizing that a moment of truth was at hand. They stayed quiescent in Sango's arms, blinking sleep from their eyes.

Inuyasha sneered to cover his sudden rush of guilt-smeared joy. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, hurt. "Please!" She thrust out her arms toward him, nearly doubling over with the pain she suddenly felt. "Come back!"

He laughed without humor; his eyebrows dropped angrily. "Why," he demanded, glaring.

Sango interrupted her, "Because you're our friend!" She took a single, involuntary step toward him.

He thrust out a hand. "Don't," he said, the single word eloquent in its expression of pain, denial, and hope that he could not afford.

Myoga was shocked into silence at the sight of his lord and the changes a mere handful of days had wrought in him. He could only watch and listen helplessly.

Miroku spoke gently, "Inuyasha, we don't want you to leave. We never did."

Shippo added, "Don't go, Inuyasha!" He struggled, and Sango set both him and Kirara down. The young demon approached slowly, cautiously, wary of scaring him away. He stopped just behind Kagome when Inuyasha's legs tensed like a spring.

"Don't," the half-dog-demon said desperately. He closed his eyes, his outstretched hand clenching into a fist. He lowered it to his side. When his golden eyes opened again, they were hard, topaz gems. **"Don't."**

"Inuyasha," Kagome cried, "we didn't betray you!" She, too, dared to take a step forward.

Inuyasha stepped backward into the bushes, reclaiming the distance between them. Kagome lifted her hands up to express the fact that she didn't want to hurt him.

Kaede said softly, "Inuyasha, do not let your past cloud your present. Ye have friends here, loyal friends."

He sneered, "No." He seemed incapable of little more than monosyllablic responses. Lifting his left hand, he almost comforted himself by tracing the bandages on his chest again, but caught the motion before it really began. He refused to show that much weakness. "No!" He began shaking his head back and forth, retreating yet farther into the undergrowth. His hakama caught and let go, caught and let go on the tiny branches.

"Inuyasha, please!" pleaded Kagome. "Don't go! Can't we at least talk first?" She sniffled, hands reaching for him again.

Even after so much had happened, he still couldn't stand to see her look like that. He halted abruptly, shoulders rounding angrily, fists clenched. "Fine!" he snapped.

Kagome nodded over and over in encouragement to both herself and Inuyasha. "Okay. Good," she said as she did so. She struggled to find the right words, ones that had the power to make him stay. Stepping back to give him space, she asked, "Could you come back into the clearing? Please?" Shippo glanced up at her and followed her lead, walking backward beside her.

He eyed the space between them for an eternity, and then marched out of the bushes. He planted himself just inside the rough circle surrounding the sacred tree. "I'll ask again. What. Do. You. Want?" Angry eyebrows lowered.

Kagome replied simply, "I want you to stay. I want you to stay with us, with me."

"No. I can't do that, won't do that."

Shippo exclaimed, "Yeah, you can!" He leapt forward a little in his earnestness. "We want you to!"

"NO! **You're lying**!" he cried suddenly, fiercely. "Don't lie to me!" His eyes were wild, his face desperate. "I can't handle it!" He impulsively decided to strike a deal for what he really wanted. "Fine! I'll stay, but only so long as you TELL THE TRUTH!"

They all looked at one another, surprised and alarmed at his outburst. Inuyasha barely took notice.

Deception hurt more than honesty, he knew. He didn't even care if they used him like a mule, or locked him away, or beat him (he wouldn't fight back) – just as long as he had their companionship. Any and all of that was better than being alone, he decided. He clenched his hands. …Even their guile.

They had a difficult time meeting his frenzied eyes.

He didn't let them respond to his earlier cry. Noises that sounded like a half-laugh, half-sob came from his chest. "Actually," he gestured crazily outward with a hand, "I don't even care if you lie." He hated to admit to what he needed, but…. "Just let me stay!" he wailed. His legs folded, and he ended up cross-legged on the ground. He pivoted, presenting them with his curved, silently shaking back.

For a moment, none of them moved. Then Kagome rushed to him, enfolding him gently in her arms. She kneeled, resting her right cheek against his back. She stroked his heaving chest and crooned. Kagome, shock still in her eyes, looked at the others and jerked her head to indicate that they should approach.

They did, quickly. None of them had had any inkling whatsoever that Inuyasha had felt this way. He was always angry, sure, but he blustered his way through life. Somehow, the past several days had inexplicably caused this to surface.

Shippo, Myoga, and Kirara bounded into his lap, astonished at his tears. Only once before had he let them see this sight. Miroku, Sango, and Kaede also joined the hug that Inuyasha so desperately needed.

When he felt all their arms around him, he broke down and sobbed loudly, raggedly, something he had not done, not once, since he was very young. The pain-filled cries tore from his throat. It made him feel incredibly weak and stupid, but he nevertheless could not dam the flood.

When his sobs trailed away at last, they moved back to allow him to stand. He staggered upright, turning and scrubbing his bloodshot eyes harshly. He blinked wearily at them, exhausted by emotion and physical pain. Kirara rubbed her body against his ankles, meowed forgiveness and understanding, and transformed with a whoosh. She presented her back to him, tails flicking.

Inuyasha just stood there.

"Go on, Inuyasha," Kagome urged. "You need the ride, for once." She smiled in gentle teasing.

In spite of himself, Inuyasha smiled back.


	14. Epilogue

**A/N:** They're a bit OOC, but I don't care enough to fix it... Sorry.

**Chapter 14: Epilogue**

– One week later –

Kagome leaned her head against Inuyasha's left shoulder. He inhaled sharply, her sweet scent flooding his senses, bringing a rush of contentment. After a moment, he leaned his own head against the top of hers. Perched in a tree not far from Kaede's hut, they watched the setting sun brush vivid paint over the fluffy clouds.

"So, are you really okay now, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, not moving her head away. "You know that we didn't betray you?"

He tensed. Over the past several days, constant reassurance and explanation had at last convinced him that he'd misinterpreted the situation. He felt like an idiot for it all. There still remained, however, a smidgen of doubt, a readiness for impending pain. He was too accustomed to betrayal for it to ever truly disappear.

He nodded, his face turned away from her.

"Inuyasha, look at me." He did so, reluctantly. She cupped his cheek with her left hand. His golden eyes flinched. She said sadly, "I care for you. I don't want you to feel bad about what you did when you transformed. You saved us, saved yourself." She paused. "Please, you can tell me anything. Anything that's bothering you, anything at all, you can say it." Kagome waited. She sighed when he didn't respond, dropping her hand and gaze. She turned back to watch the sunset, leaning against him once more. "I wish you'd just tell me why you thought… you know," she murmured, more to herself than to him.

His pointed ears flicked guiltily. The ends of his white hair lifted in a gentle breeze, and he sighed. He looked downward, thinking about what she'd said. Suddenly, he muttered, "It's just…." He paused, then finished lamely, "I don't know."

She tilted her head to look up at him. "Yes, you do." She added hurriedly, "Don't worry – I won't judge. Just say what you wanted to say. If you want, I'll just listen. I won't reply or comment." She blinked.

He sighed again, then twisted his lips in defeat and slight amusement. "Okay, then. But only because you won't shut up about it."

She smiled.

He was silent awhile, thinking again. Embarrassment twisted in his chest. "You know I never talk about this stuff," he blurted.

"Yeah," she said softly when he seemed to want a reply. "I know."

"So this is really weird."

She nodded.

He sighed for the third time. "Okay," he muttered, taking a deep breath. "My mother… died when I was young. You know this. My father – I don't remember him at all." He hesitated. "After… she died," he swallowed, "I was alone." His voice broke. "I never… had a proper friend until Kikyo. And then you."

Kagome listened with undivided attention while he spoke, carefully not looking at him. She was afraid that if she did, it would make him uncomfortable, and then he'd clam up. But finally, when nothing more seemed forthcoming, she asked tentatively, "Never?"

He looked to his right, to the northern horizon. He shrugged noncommittally. "Not really."

Silence fell over them. Kagome hesitated before gently probing, "What do you mean by 'not really?'"

His nostrils flared angrily, his suddenly harsh breathing audible. He clenched his jaw. "They… well, let's just say they weren't exactly **loyal**."

"Oh," she breathed.

"Exactly." His teeth ground together. "They… **tricked** me," he admitted slowly. "Mostly for their own ends."

Kagome didn't dare say a word. She could feel the tension stealing into his body.

He was losing himself in his words, nearly forgetting that he had an audience. "Sometimes they were demons, sometimes humans. It didn't really matter. They were all the same, anyway." Inuyasha exhaled sharply. "But it doesn't matter anymore. It's gone; it's done; it's over." He shook it away, relaxing his muscles.

Kagome glanced up at him.

He said to her, "Don't worry, Kagome. **That** will never happen again." He added fiercely, "I won't let it!" He brandished his right fist at the lowering sun for emphasis.

She hugged his left upper arm tightly and leaned against his warmth. "I'm glad."

Sudden applause from below and behind startled them. They jumped. Turning, they saw Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kirara, Kaede, and Myoga emerging from the forest. They laughed (a bit nervously) together at the enraged look on Inuyasha's face.

"Yay, Inuyasha!" cried Shippo, still clapping his hands together. "You finally opened up!"

Inuyasha growled and shouted furiously, "You'll all regret this!" And he leapt off the bough, landing in a crouch in front of his friends. He snarled. They fled, yelling things like, "No, Inuyasha! Don't! We're just proud of you!"

"Eavesdroppers! Now you're gonna pay!" He chased them. "Get back here!"

Shippo giggled as he ran. "Never!"

"If you guys repeat any of it, I'll kill you!"

Kagome chuckled, watching happily. Inuyasha was returning to his old self.

The golden, shining orb slowly disappeared below the horizon, producing brilliant, fiery shades of red, orange, and yellow across the sky. It pronounced the close in yet another among the endless, rippling string of beautiful days.

**- Owari -**


End file.
